The Chronicle: Issue 2012-03, January 17, 2012

The Intersection: Insurance-Canada.ca BlogWhat's Going Through The Intersection of Insurance and Technology, an Insurance-Canada.ca Blog.

Claims

Gowlings' XClaim™ Portfolio Claims Management system featured in Canadian Lawyer.
Dec. 20, 2011 - In the December edition of Canadian Lawyer, Gowlings professionals Louis Frapporti and Ralph D'Angelo discuss the success of the firm's XClaim™ platform, a portfolio claims management system that allows clients to remotely view and track the progress of their files in real time via a secure portal. In addition, clients are able to generate their own reports from the system, rather than having to ask the external legal team for information, and benefit from receiving XClaim-related services for a fixed rate.

Munich Re Review of natural catastrophes in 2011: Earthquakes result in record loss year.
Munich, 4 January 2012 - Torsten Jeworrek, Munich Re Board member responsible for global reinsurance business: "Thankfully, a sequence of severe natural catastrophes like last year's is a very rare occurrence. We had to contend with events with return periods of once every 1,000 years or even higher at the locations concerned. But we are prepared for such extreme situations. It is the insurance industry's task to cover extreme losses as well, to help society cope with such events and to learn from them in order to protect mankind better from these natural perils."


Canadian Insurance Top BrokerReach your clients and prospects within the Annual Technology Issue of Canadian Insurance Top Broker Magazine.

This important issue will feature a Special Technology Provider Roundtable, as well as a Technology Directory and Marketplace.

All sponsors of the Insurance Canada Technology Conference will be provided special discounted advertising rates.

For more information contact publisher Mia Williamson at MiaM.Williamson@rci.rogers.com.

Technology

SAS: Few companies fully harnessing technology to prevent fraud despite 4 in 5 Canadian executives saying it's a business priority.
Toronto, ON (20 Dec. 2011) - While the vast majority (83 per cent) of Canadian executives said that fraud prevention and detection is a priority at their organization, only 9 per cent of those surveyed said they have business analytics software designed to help detect fraud running all the time. These are just some of the findings in a SAS / Leger survey of 1,033 Canadian executives at mid-sized and large organizations conducted earlier this year.

Novarica: Most Insurance CIOs See Supporting Strategic Initiatives and Improving Efficiency as Primary Values to the Enterprise.
January 12, 2012 (NEW YORK) A new report by research and advisory firm Novarica, Creating Enterprise Value as CIO (http://www.novarica.com/creating_value_as_cio/) presents a look at how more than 100 insurer CIOs see their role in creating value and the factors that support or inhibit them in their mission.

Gartner Identifies Top Vertical Industry Predictions for IT Organizations for 2012 and Beyond.
STAMFORD, Conn., January 4, 2012 - Gartner, Inc. has revealed its top predictions for IT organizations and users for 2012 and beyond. Analysts said that the predictions herald changes in control for IT organizations as budgets, technologies and costs become more fluid and distributed.

Progressive number one auto insurance website.
MAYFIELD VILLAGE, Ohio - December 29, 2011 -In its most recent Insurance Carrier Scorecard, Keynote® Competitive Research, the industry analysis group of Keynote® Systems, Inc., once again has named progressive.com, the website for Progressive® Insurance, the top website in the car insurance industry. The scorecard, which is part of Keynote's Online Excellence Competitive Research Study, rates companies on nine categories. Progressive has received top honors on 18 of the last 19 scorecards, dating back to 2000.

Marketing and the Market Place

Manulife Financial Investor Sentiment Index reveals financial concerns and priorities for 2012.
WATERLOO, ON, Jan. 11, 2012 - As we begin a new year, results from Manulife Financial's latest quarterly Investor Sentiment Index (ISI) showed an increase of five points - indicating that Canadians' confidence in their investment options began to improve in late 2011.

LIMRA: Reaching Out to Retirees Makes All the Difference When It Comes to Rolling Over Assets.
WINDSOR, Conn., Dec. 7, 2011 - A new LIMRA study revealed that retirees and pre-retirees who are proactively contacted by their retirement plan provider around the time they leave their employer are twice as likely to keep their retirement plan assets with the plan provider.

Pitney Bowes Business InsightWebinar: Life Cycle and Trigger Based Marketing

Thursday, January 19, 12:00 noon - 1:00pm ET.

This live webinar with Jeffrey M. Nicholson of Pitney Bowes Business Insight will cover trigger-based marketing: defining and realizing the benefits.

Topics will include:

Click here for more details.

Social Business

eMarketer: Integrating Social Media into Business Process a Challenge.
DECEMBER 30, 2011 - Integrating social media into overall business processes is a challenge for many companies. Marketers, often having led the way in social media usage, must work with other teams and senior executives to bring about change within the company in order to integrate social throughout the organization.

Policy and Product Management

Celent: Telematics-Based Insurance: Has Its Time Finally Arrived?
January 5, 2012 - Many might think that the subject of telematics is now closed, but they are incorrect. Several factors have resurrected the topic, and indeed, much new investment has already been made in this area. In a new report, Telematics-Based Insurance: Has Its Time Finally Arrived?, Celent takes a look at how this market is developing, the emerging propositions and operating models, and the impact on IT.

Business of Insurance

I.I.I. Survey Finds USA Insurance Industry Leaders Believe The Worst Of Financial Crisis Now Behind Us; Industry Now In Early Stages Of Hard Market.
NEW YORK, January 11, 2012 - Leaders of the property/casualty insurance industry believe the worst of the financial crisis is over and that the industry is now in the early stages of a hard market, according to a survey conducted by the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) at its 16th annual Property/Casualty Insurance Joint Industry Forum, held here. Seventy-five percent of executives in the property/casualty industry expect an improvement in profitability in 2012; and in fact, 72 percent believe the industry is on the road to recovery.

Consumer Information

Manitoba Public Insurance's Top 10 safe driving resolutions for 2012.
December 28, 2011 - In a matter of days Manitobans will be ringing in another new year. Welcome 2012! With the goal of reducing traffic collisions, deaths and injuries on our roadways this upcoming year, Manitoba Public Insurance has released its Top 10 Safe Driving Resolutions.

IBAO: Ontario Safety League Announces Another Outstanding Operation Red Nose Season.
January 11, 2012 - (Toronto, Ontario) Today, the Ontario Safety League (OSL) is proud to release the 2011 Operation Red Nose Ontario season statistics. This has been a great year of growth to 15 locations across Ontario servicing from November 25-December 31, 2011.

PCI Says: Personal Responsibility is the Primary Factor in the Solution to Distracted Driving Epidemic.
December 15, 2011 - CHICAGO - The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) call for a national ban on the cell phone use while driving brings needed attention to the issue but the discussion should focus on how to reduce all forms of distracted driving according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI).

RBC Poll: Travel High on Retirement Wish List, But Snowbirds Flocking Closer to Home.
TORONTO, December 13, 2011 - Retired Canadians are living lifestyles that are worlds apart from how nearly retired Canadians think they'll be spending their retirement years, according to the 2011 RBC Retirement Myths & Realities Poll. Almost three-quarters (74 per cent) of the nearly retired (age 50 and over) think they'll spend their days travelling - an increase of two per cent from last year. In reality, only 58 per cent of actual retirees spend their time away from home, down one per cent from 2010.

from Doug:

On the recent cold Saturday evening we walked a few blocks to the theatre. It was a good play, The Penelopiad, based on a novella of the same name by Margaret Atwood. Simplistically, the story line is Penelope's retrospective, from the afterlife, review of her life: meeting and marriage to Odysseus, life with him, the struggles of his 20-year absence (ten in Troy, ten wandering) and his return which precludes in the nick of time her selection of a new husband from a myriad of suitors. The all-female cast of Penelope and ten maidens in different roles offers a feminist point of view. As noted, it was well acted. The lead was Megan Follows, widely known for her role as Anne Shirley in the television production of Anne of Green Gables. A review of the Penelopiad play was cutely titled "Anne of Greek Fables".

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