INSURANCE INDUSTRY NEWS

Pandemic Eclipses Climate In Future Risks Report
AXA's seventh Future Risks report sees pandemics and infectious diseases rise from #8 last year to #1 in the current ranking amid the global COVID-19 crisis. The global study ranks changes in the perception of emerging risks by risk management experts and the general public, conducted in partnership with research institute IPSOS and geopolitical analysis consultancy Eurasia Group. Read more.

Reimagining The Future Of Life Insurance
The global life insurance industry has seen significant changes over the past decade, but several trends show promise for the decade ahead. According to McKinsey, the industry faces a pivotal opportunity – and expects winning life insurance companies to outperform in three particular areas in the decade ahead. Read more.

Business & Tech Trends In Personal Lines
Social changes brought on by the pandemic have prompted personal lines insurers to look for ways to improve the customer experience while creating competitive advantage through enhancements to products and services. Novarica's report provides an overview of carriers' business & technology issues, data about the marketplace, and examples of recent technology investments. Read more.

2020 Small Commercial Carrier Performance
The small commercial insurance market segment is going to be under greater pressure in the near future. As small-business owners navigate these challenging times, it is likely that agents can be a strong partner in helping them secure the best coverage at the best price. Should carriers pay more attention to what agents are saying about their performance? Read more.

Vehicle Autonomy Tech To Arrive Gradually: IDC
The migration toward fully autonomous vehicles is being enabled by the gradual introduction of multiple, interrelated safety technologies. Feature by feature, these technologies move the market toward an increasingly autonomous future. According to a new forecast from International Data Corporation, the number of vehicles capable of at least some autonomy will increase 75% from 2019 to 2024. Read more.

Tech Key To Meeting Expectations: Young Agents
Forward-thinking insurers are ensuring that they understand the commonalities and differences of working with the next generation of independent agents. In a new executive brief, Novarica provides insights from conversations with young agents, conducted as part of a profile series for high-performing insurance producers under the age of 40. Read more.

MPI Selects Duck Creek Core Systems Solution
Duck Creek Technologies is pleased to announce that Manitoba Public Insurance has selected the Duck Creek Suite to power its digital transformation. The insurer chose Duck Creek's solutions to increase efficiency and improve customer service. Read more.

Mitchell Enhances AutocheX Digital Services
Mitchell, a leading provider of technology solutions to the P&C claims and Collision Repair industries, has announced plans to enhance its AutocheX portfolio of consumer communication services through a joint collaboration with UpdatePromise. Read more.

Foresters Financial and Canada Protection Plan Join Forces
Fraternal life insurer Foresters Financial and Canada Protection Plan, a leading distributor of No Medical and Simplified Issue life insurance, are pleased to announce they are joining forces to benefit their customers, advisors and employees. Read more.

Quadient Virtual Conference Draws CX Experts
Quadient, a leader in helping businesses create meaningful customer connections through digital channels, has announced its 2020 flagship customer experience management conference, Quadient Inspire Days Virtual Experience. Read more.

BrokerTeam Group Adds Two New Brokerages
BrokerTeam Group is excited to announce that it will be setting up two new insurance brokerages in the last quarter of 2020. Located in Mississauga and Pickering respectively, BrokerZone Insurance and BrokerUnion Insurance will be the eleventh and twelfth brokerages to become a part of BrokerTeam Group's expanding insurance broker network. Read more.

Westland Acquires Two New AB Brokerage Firms
Westland Insurance Group is pleased to announce the closing of its acquisitions of Ironside Insurance Brokers and G&E Insurance. Westland’s new retail offices, both in Alberta, support the company’s expansion strategy to serve more communities across Canada. Read more.

Canadians Don't Know How To Spot Identity Theft
Fraud and identity theft are on the rise, but Canadians are divided on knowing how to spot it. According to a recent survey commissioned by Johnson Insurance, more than half of Canadians are unable to identify all of the warning signs that they have become a victim of identity theft. Read more.

BIG Ranked Among Top Growing Companies
Billyard Insurance Group (BIG) is proud to announce it has placed #63 on the Globe and Mail's 2020 Report on Business ranking of Canada's Top Growing Companies. The index ranks Canadian companies based on a three-year revenue growth, and BIG earned its spot with a three-year revenue growth of 817%. Read more.

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In the InsurTech Spotlight this week:

Goose Insurance
Goose is a consumer-facing InsurTech challenger operating a digital mobile-first platform called the Goose Insurance Super-app. Goose is solving two major problems in consumer insurance. First is accessibility to insurance: consumers want direct access. Secondly, consumers are underinsured globally: people do not have enough or proper insurance coverage to meet their life needs. Learn more.

Calling all InsurTechs! Click here to participate.

From Doug InsurTech really caught everyone's attention when early innovators with advanced technologies and a customer focus – Lemonade with renters' insurance, Trōv with on-demand insurance, and numerous others – brought niche products to market. They raised the spectre of significant insurance disruption. Fast forward to today. The leaders in today's insurance transformation both incumbents and startups are looking well beyond incremental process improvements into more dramatic changes, including: • Touchless claims • Parametric insurance • Embedded insurance • Ecosystems and • Partnerships outside the insurance industry. In a recent blog post on digital transformation, Majesco SVP Denise Garth noted the “staggering” figures in the company's Strategic Priorities report: In the past year, Laggards had a 41% gap to Leaders; and Followers had a 15% gap to Leaders. Over the next three years, the gap widens with Laggards and Followers falling further behind Leaders, with 62% and 21% gaps, respectively. COVID-19 showed many that they could do digital transformation (work from home) quickly. The real transformation of insurance itself as a product and service is just beginning. Where are you positioned? What will insurance look like in 5 years? 10 years? Doug Grant, CIP Partner Insurance-Canada.ca