Issue 2006-07: February 14, 2006
Policy and Product Management
SunGard Announces Introduction of iWORKS.
New York, NY - February 7, 2006 - SunGard announced today that it has brought together its entire family of insurance products under a single global brand, SunGard iWORKS. This family of products enhances SunGard's abilities to meet the growing requirements of SunGard customers around the world from front-office tools and policy administration to back-office reinsurance, actuarial calculations, financial and investment accounting and reporting.
Global IQX Renewal Solution Launched.
Ottawa, Ontario, February 7, 2006 - Global IQX, a specialist in component-based sales and service solutions for group benefits carriers announces the availability of IQX Renewal. The solution streamlines the process of renewing Group business by linking with legacy systems to apply rules and ratios for renewal. It provides Group insurance carriers with an "Out-of-the-Box" renewal rating solution that can be used to initiate the renewal process prior to a renewal date based on case-specific lead time.
eBusiness and Technology
Gore Mutual Delivers Superior Customer Service and Optimizes Business Processes With Synergize from Microdea.
Gore Mutual wanted to provide brokers and clients with fast, secure yet easy access to real-time information. An electronic document management and workflow solution was required to deliver consistent and reliable automated document management processes, real-time information access, long-term document security, and reduced operating costs. Microdea was selected due to their reputation and expertise in designing and delivering customized and flexible business solutions for financial services companies.
iWay Software Announces Comprehensive SOA Integration Suite.
New York, NY - February 1, 2006 - iWay Software, an Information Builders company and an innovator of enterprise integration solutions, today announced iWay SOA Middleware™, a comprehensive enterprise integration product suite that enables customers to make their entire IT infrastructure more open, more flexible, and more easily aligned with business requirements.
Ipsos Forecasts IT Spending In Canada To Reach $41 Billion In 2006.
February 7, 2006 Toronto, ON - A new Ipsos report examining IT growth trends and spending patterns shows that the total spend for 2006 is expected to reach $40.93 billion in Canada, down slightly from $41.35 billion in 2005.
Gartner Survey of 1,400 CIOs Shows Transformation of IT Organisation is Accelerating.
Egham, UK, 23 January 2006 - Chief Information Officers (CIOs) will come under increased pressure in 2006 to perform whilst they transform their IT organisation to become more externally focussed, according to a worldwide survey of 1,400 CIOs by Gartner Executive Programmes (EXP), a unit of Gartner Inc. Gartner said executives now expect IT to play a significant role in business growth and competitiveness, a shift that will accelerate in 2006.
Financial Insights Releases Annual Top 10 Strategic IT Initiatives for Insurance.
FRAMINGHAM, Mass., January 27, 2006 - Leading independent research and advisory firm, Financial Insights, an IDC company, today announced the release of its annual report identifying the Top 10 IT initiatives that will have key strategic importance for insurance organizations worldwide in 2006. The report identifies and describes these initiatives, examines why they will have an impact in 2006 and explains why they should be on the minds of business and technology executives at insurance companies and vendors serving the industry.
Product Announcements
The Concierge Insurance Service Package is only available from Mac Vanderhout Insurance Brokers Limited.
For more than five decades Mac Vanderhout has provided insurance brokerage services. Our commercial, personal property, auto, life, employee benefits and specialty services combine to form a single source, full service package. We call this our Concierge Service Package.
Desjardins General Insurance offers 10% discount to hybrid vehicle drivers.
Lévis (Québec), February 9, 2006 - Desjardins General Insurance, the property and casualty insurance arm of Desjardins Group, Canada's largest cooperative financial group, is doing its part for sustainable development by introducing an additional 10% discount on the automobile insurance premium for hybrid vehicles.
Seminar
TELUS and the 2006 Canadian Insurance Technology Forum: P&C Products, Services and Distribution, Tuesday, February 28, 2006
TELUS, a gold sponsor of the Forum, invites attendees of the Forum to a reception which will immediately follow the Conference at the Ontario Bar Association Conference Centre in Toronto. TELUS will also make an industry research announcement during the session.
More details including registration information for the Forum can be found at www.insurance-canada.ca/seminars/seminar20060228.php
Business of Insurance
Sovereign General to Focus on Core Strength.
Calgary, AB, February 8, 2006 - In keeping with its strategic goal to focus on its core strength of commercial insurance, The Sovereign General Insurance Company announced today that it will no longer write personal auto and home insurance in Alberta, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories. The size of the portfolios and their geographic concentration create an unacceptable level of exposure for the company.
Lloyd's identifies key shifts in the Asian insurance market.
03/02/2006 - Lloyd's, the world's leading specialist insurance market, has today released new research giving the insurance industry clear guidance on key developments in Asia.
Claims
USA National Equipment Register Releases 2005 Equipment Theft Report.
NEW YORK, Feb. 1 - Nearly 40 percent of all construction and agricultural equipment theft occurs in just five states, according to a report released today by the National Equipment Register (NER), a database company established to reduce heavy-equipment theft rates and increase recoveries of stolen equipment. Based on more than 5,000 theft reports submitted to NER in 2005, Texas leads all other states in the number of heavy-equipment thefts, followed by California, Florida, Missouri and South Carolina.
Insurance in the Community
Building New Memories: YMCA Campaign Gaining Strength.
PETERBOROUGH, ON, Jan. 31, 2006 - The YMCA of Peterborough's Building New Memories campaign is off to a strong start and is in even better shape following a visit by three local Co-operators agents. Denise Darling, Al Johnson and Rick Johnston presented a $50,000 donation today on behalf of The Co-operators to campaign chair John MacDonald and YMCA CEO Bob Gallagher.
Consumer Information
General Insurance OmbudService can now be reached at one number all across Canada.
The General Insurance OmbudService (GIO) has set up a new national toll-free number, 1-877-225-0446, effective immediately.
I.I.I. Recommends an Annual Review of Insurance Needs; Top 10 Questions to Ask Yourself.
NEW YORK, January 27, 2006 - Major purchases and lifestyle changes such as marriage, divorce or retirement can have a profound effect on your insurance, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.).
Distribution
IIABA Calls For Implementation of Real-Time Multiple Company Rating.
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 30, 2006-The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA) is calling for the industry to accelerate current efforts to implement real-time multiple-company rating.
New kasina Report Sees Big Changes Ahead For Wholesaler Compensation Models.
NEW YORK, January 19 - Podcasts, Real Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds, and Weblogs are among the new and emerging communications tools that forward-looking asset managers are considering to support their advisors, according to a report released today by kasina, a leading consultant to the asset management industry.
Marketing and the Market Place
ING to provide long-term support to Canada's national speed skating teams.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006 - Montreal - ING Insurance and ING DIRECT have teamed up to announce that they will be a Premier Partner of Canada's national speed skating teams. The partnership, valued at $2 million over six years, builds upon ING's existing association with speed skating.
Managing Relationships and Customer Service
Global Companies Turn to KANA for Multi-Lingual, Multi-Channel Customer Service Solutions.
MENLO PARK, Calif. - February 6, 2006 - KANA Software, Inc. (Pinksheets: KANA.PK), a leading provider of service resolution management (SRM) solutions, today announced that companies are leveraging KANA's multi-lingual, multi-channel customer service solutions to service an increasingly global customer base.
from Doug:
We are looking forward to more activity around the house over the next two weeks with son home for reading week and family visits. Following Valentine's celebrations today, we somehow have to find a new storage spot for all those things which have accummulated in the living and dining room since New Year's. Where does it all come from? Where does time go to?