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.




Reference and Statistics

Canadian Insurance 2007 Annual Statistical Issue On the Press.
The 2007 Annual Statistical Issue from Canadian Insurance Magazine is now on the press and copies will be in our office the first week of June - order your copy today! This Statistical Issue is Canada's most comprehensive roundup of insurance company underwriting results and analysis. A must read to knowing your industry! Check out the market leaders and learn who writes what.

eBusiness and Technology

CGI To Merge USA Insurance Divisions.
Boston, Massachusetts, May 20, 2007 - CGI Group Inc., a leader in information technology and business process services is pleased to announce that as of May 21, 2007 it will combine its insurance divisions to provide even better service and value to its clients. CGI's US Insurance Business Services Division will merge with CGI's Insurance System Integration and Consulting practice to better integrate the delivery of all of CGI's insurance and technology expertise.

Information Builders Rolls Out New Active Technologies to More Than a Thousand Customers at Annual Summit User Conference.
Las Vegas, NV - May 21, 2007 - Information Builders, the leader in production business intelligence (BI) solutions, at its 26th annual Summit User Conference today announced the release of WebFOCUS 7.6.1, highlighting dozens of industry-leading initiatives including process-driven alerts, improved Microsoft Office integration with new Excel plug-ins, and portable dashboard and collaboration capabilities in Active Reports.

Guy Carpenter's i-aXsT Platform Wins MapInfo Award For Excellence in Use of Location Intelligence
New York, May 9, 2007 -- Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC, the leading global risk and reinsurance specialist and a part of the Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE: MMC), today announced that its i-aXs risk management platform has received the 2007 MapInfo Meridian Award for Organizational Impact in recognition of its innovative mapping technology and outstanding use of location intelligence. The award was presented today at MapWorld 2007 in Seattle.

Insurance Networking News and Financial Insights Publish First Annual Ranking of Insurance Technology Vendors.
ORLANDO, May 21, 2007 - Insurance Networking News and Financial Insights, an IDC company, released the first annual "Voice of the Market" ranking for the insurance industry today at the ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum. In this ranking, the InsureTopTech, insurance carriers in the United States and Canada ranked the top insurance technology providers across several categories including insurance operations, developing products, and/or optimizing workflow.

Gartner Says Worldwide Enterprise Content Management Software Market Will Reach $4.2 Billon in 2010.
STAMFORD, Conn., May 21, 2007 - Due to the increasing need for companies to manage content at the enterprise level, the worldwide enterprise content management (ECM) software market is expected to grow more than 12 percent per year through 2010, from $2.6 billion in 2006 to more than $4.2 billion in 2010, according to Gartner, Inc. In 2007, worldwide ECM revenue is projected to total $2.9 billion, a 12.8 percent increase from 2006.

Distribution

USA Agents Using Industry Standard Solutions for Automation Report Major Efficiencies and Time Savings, IVANS Survey Reveals.
STAMFORD, Conn. - May 21, 2007 - Agents using industry-standard real-time solutions offered by their carriers claim time savings of more than 50 percent when processing transactions such as quoting, billing and claim inquiries, loss runs, and policy views, according to a survey conducted by IVANS, the leading provider of connectivity solutions and services for property & casualty insurance.

Voluntary sales rebound in 2006 based on Eastbridge's study of 61 leading carriers.
AVON, CONNECTICUT, USA (May 17, 2007)-For the prior three years (2002 through 2005), industry voluntary sales have increased an average of 2.7 percent a year. While better than many segments of the insurance industry, that pace was well off the pre-2002, double-digit growth rates. But the slow-growth trend seems to have reversed itself in 2006, with estimated worksite sales of $4.715 billion - an 8 percent increase over 2005.

Independent Agents and Brokers Hold Market Share: IIABA.
ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 7, 2007-The results of the 2005 market share study by the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, Inc. (the Big "I), again show that the independent agency system remains strong with plenty of growth opportunities.

Agents Leverage "Power of Change®" in New ACORD Seminar.
PEARL RIVER, NY & LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL - May 20, 2007 - A revamped program titled "Power of Change®: Performance-Oriented Workflows Ensure Results" is eliminating the anxiety many independent agencies face when trying to adopt new technology-based workflows, according to the ACORD-User Groups Information Exchange (AUGIE). Changing workflows and habits is difficult, especially if you're comfortable in your ways, as many independent agencies and their employees are today.

Managing Relationships and Customer Service

Group Retirement Services for Great-West Life, London Life and Canada Life offers 'Smart messages' on plan member statements.
LONDON, ON, May 24, 2007 - Group Retirement Services, a division of The Great-West Life Assurance Company and its subsidiaries, London Life Insurance Company and The Canada Life Assurance Company, now provides its group plan members with 'Smart messages' on their mailed member statements.

Marketing and the Market Place

Conning Research: Upcoming Baby Boomer Retirement Bulge to Redefine Retirement Market Strategy for Life-Annuity Companies.
Hartford, CT, May 8, 2007 - The retirement industry is facing looming strategic and operational challenges as more than 70 million Baby Boomers near retirement, according to a new study by Conning Research and Consulting, Inc.

Business of Insurance

ING Canada adopts new Standards of Sound Marketplace Practice.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007 - Toronto -- Claude Dussault, CEO of ING Canada (TSX: IIC) announced today, at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders, that its insurance subsidiaries have adopted the Insurance Bureau of Canada's (IBC) Standards of Sound Marketplace Practice. The primary objective of the IBC Standards is to encourage the adoption of a more risk-based model for the insurance regulatory environment and improved corporate governance to better protect consumers' interests.

Consumer Information

5th Annual Expedia Vacation Deprivation Survey: Ipsos Survey.
May 2, 2006 Toronto, ON - A new Ipsos Reid survey conducted on behalf of Expedia.ca finds that one-third (34%) of Canadians are planning to take a trip this summer and, on average, they'll take two trips. In addition, 41% of anticipated summer travellers say they plan to take more trips than last summer and another 36% plan to take the same amount.

Insurance Bureau of Canada reminds B.C. residents to protect their belongings: Overland flooding not covered by insurance.
Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) reminds consumers that any damage caused by overland flooding cannot be covered by home insurance.

CIHI: Pedestrian injury hospitalizations down 31% in 10 years.
May 9, 2007-On average, nine Canadians were admitted to hospital every day for a pedestrian injury in 2004-2005, but the overall number of hospitalizations dropped significantly for such injuries over 10 years, according to a new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

from Doug:

This weekend coming is our national heritage organization's annual four day conference and annual meeting. This year we are gathering in Windsor ON. We enjoy double the pleasure by meeting people from coast to coast who are new to the group and those with whom we have worked over many years, and learn more about the history of the area, a history which is much richer and more vibrant than most of us had realized.


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