Insurance-Canada.ca Newsletter Archive

Issue 2003-34:   August 26, 2003

This newsletter is for members of the Canadian Insurance Industry, and those who serve it. The newsletter is published weekly, and notes information mostly about the use of the Internet and related technologies in the industry. Some is international, where we feel it is relevant to Canada.




Policy Management and Adminsitration

Equitable Life of Canada and Penad Pension Services Limited Sign DC Pension Administration Software Agreement

Equitable Life of Canada and Penad Pension Services Limited announced that Equitable Life will license Penad's defined contribution software platform for Equitable Life's group pension business in Canada. Penad's leading-edge pension record-keeping system will be integrated with Equitable Life's related information systems to further Equitable Life's goal of being a service leader in every aspect of its operation. By utilizing Penad's Enterprise Automation software and e-Pensions module, Equitable Life will enable its pension plan members and participating employers to take full advantage of the Internet for access to important account information as well as to streamline every aspect of the pension record-keeping process.

Statistics and Reference Materials

North American Life Insurance Activity Off 1.9% in July: MIB.

Applications for life insurance in North America declined 1.9% in July compared to the same period last year, but were only slightly lower than June's trend-breaking rise in application volume. In the U.S., application activity declined by 1.4% year-over-year; in Canada activity declined by 5.8%.

Claims

Boomerang Tracking Inc. Ranked as Finalist in the 2003 Canadian Technology Fast 50.

Boomerang Tracking Inc. is proud to announce it has once again ranked as a finalist in Deloitte & Touche''s Canadian Technology Fast 50 awards program.

CSIO Insurance Portal Status Update

Week ending August 22: Nothing new for those things we report this week. Again Marshall Lee indicates that there is a great deal of activity, and a Board meeting on Friday 29th.

Business of Insurance

Sun Life Financial maintains stake in expanded CI Fund Management.

Sun Life Financial Inc. said today that the Company will provide significant support to the transactions announced today between CI Fund Management Inc. and Assante Corporation, and between CI and Synergy Asset Management Inc., in which CI will acquire Assante's Canadian operations and all of Synergy's operations.

Industrial Alliance Becomes a Mutual Funds Manufacturer by Acquiring Co-Operators Mutual Funds Limited.

Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. and The Co-operators Group Limited announced an agreement today under which Industrial Alliance will acquire all common shares of Co-operators Mutual Funds Limited that are held by an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of The Co-operators Group. This agreement will allow Industrial Alliance to offer its own family of mutual funds under CMFL's current structure. This agreement is subject to regulatory approval.

Co-operators Mutual Funds Limited Seeks Unitholder Approval for Fund Mergers and Change in Investment Objective.

After careful analysis of the Co-operators Group of Mutual Funds family, including a review of each Fund's investment objectives and upon consultation with Credit Suisse Asset Management, LLC, the investment sub-advisor of the Funds, CMFL is proposing to consolidate the Funds to simplify investment choices for unitholders and to ensure an even higher quality fund family.

Risk Management

Risk Management: Prevent a Claim or Prepare One? The Decision is Yours - Investigative Engineers Association.

We live in a constantly changing world. Risk management is a set of steps used to define the process of understanding and managing the risks associated with some changed condition. Change can be wanted and expected, thereby creating a new opportunity. Change can also be unwanted and unexpected occurring as a problem or deviation from the plan. In this case, the change generally creates undesirable outcome since the uncertainty evolves into threat.

Technology and eBusiness

GartnerG2 Says Financial Services Providers Must Implement Straight-Through Processing Initiatives to Achieve a Competitive Advantage.

Financial services providers have much to gain by automating their trade process by implementing straight-through processing (STP). However many providers are slow in applying this process, according to GartnerG2, a unit of Gartner, Inc. In April and May of 2003, GartnerG2 and the Securities Industry Association (SIA) conducted a joint survey by phone and e-mail in which they surveyed 184 financial services providers in 21 countries worldwide about their STP initiatives.

TowerGroup Identifies Top Five Trends Driving Institutional Brokerage Technology Decisions.

While institutional brokerages remain bound by strict budgetary constraints, an array of forces are driving them to invest in technologies that will help them keep pace with dynamic changes in market structures, meet a host of new compliance/regulatory issues, and gain the competitive advantage afforded by new technology architectures.

Mortgage Boom Proves Technology's a Bust: by Celent.

In a new report entitled "Mortgage Technologies: Paving a Path to Full Automation," Celent analyzes the effects of low interest rates on the mortgage industry and the obvious need for next generation solutions offering greater efficiency, higher levels of integration, and the promise of full business process automation.

Reinsurance

eReinsure� System Selected by AIG Member Companies for Online Placement and Management of Facultative Reinsurance.

eReinsure, a provider of e-commerce technology for negotiating reinsurance, today announced that member companies of American International Group, Inc. (AIG) will implement the eReinsure system for facultative reinsurance buying.

New Insurance Consumer Information

Ontario Power Outage: IBC Issues Consumer Advisory.

Insurance Bureau of Canada is reassuring policyholders that claims submitted in the wake of last week's power outage will not lead to cancellation of homeowners' policies. Many insurance companies are taking extra steps so that claims related to the power outage are not even counted against a policyholder's personal claims history.

IBC responds to policyholders following Ontario-wide power outage.

Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) advises that some of the losses resulting from Ontario's power outage will be covered under most insurance policies. Policyholders are reminded that they are required to take all reasonable steps to prevent and limit losses, including damage to perishable food.

from Doug:

Terrifying to see pictures of those fires descending into Kelowna; gratifying to see everyone pulling together.
Spent an evening near Stratford in my growing-up community enjoying the dedication of a stone monument commemorating the arrival from Scotland of a pioneer family 150 years ago - the historical skit, unrehearsed, in an outdoor setting was a wonderful and fun way to absorb more early history.