Issue 2006-34: August 22, 2006
eBusiness and Technology
Desjardins Financial Services acquires a license to NewLink's Vista Service Oriented Architecture - Enterprise Business Model.
TORONTO, Aug. 14 2006 -- Desjardins Financial Services (DFS) purchased a license to NewLink's Vista™ Service Oriented Architecture - Enterprise Business Model, to support DFS' process improvement and business process management (BPM) projects.
Information Builders Addresses Performance Optimization and Usage Monitoring With WebFOCUS Resource Analyzer.
New York, NY - August 2, 2006 - Information Builders, the enterprise business intelligence (BI) standard of choice for organizations around the world, today announced the availability of WebFOCUS Resource Analyzer to help organizations get a better handle on usage monitoring and analysis for maximum BI system performance across the enterprise. By incorporating resource analysis into enterprise business intelligence initiatives, organizations can track important information about usage to ensure availability and acceptable response times for queries across an ever-expanding set of users and enterprise data sources.
Claims
ISO Acquires Xactware, the Leading Provider of Estimation Software and Services for the Property Insurance Industry.
JERSEY CITY, N.J., Aug. 10, 2006 - ISO has acquired the assets of Xactware, Inc., the
leading provider of estimation software and services for the property insurance, remodeling
and restoration industries. Terms were not disclosed. The privately held company and its
more than 230 employees will continue operating at its current headquarters in Orem, Utah, as a
stand-alone entity, serving its extensive customer base of property insurers, contractors and service providers throughout the United States and Canada.
J.D. Power and Associates Reports: Fountain Tire Ranks Highest in Overall Customer Satisfaction With Auto Service in Canada.
TORONTO: 2 August 2006 - Fountain Tire ranks highest in overall customer satisfaction amongst automotive service provider brands, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Canadian Customer Commitment Index StudySM released today.
Marketing and the Market Place
Canadian Internet Use Survey 2005: Statistics Canada.
August 15, 2006 - Two-thirds of adult Canadians surfed the Internet in 2005, and those living in larger cities were much more likely to have done so than those in rural areas and small towns, according to the new Canadian Internet Use Survey.
Managing Relationships and Customer Service
Whitehill Technologies releases IStream Communicator 2.2: New release from InSystems.
MONCTON, NB, Canada - Aug. 16, 2006 - Whitehill Technologies, Inc. today introduced the latest release of IStream Communicator, part of the InSystems product line which focuses on speed-to-market for the insurance industry.
Want a Reminder When Your Bill's Due? Want to Know When Your Payment Went Through? No Worries - Progressive Direct® Makes It Easy with New Text Messaging Service.
MAYFIELD VILLAGE, Ohio - Aug. 9, 2006 - The Progressive Direct Group of Insurance Companies today announced its customers can now sign up to receive up-to-date information about their auto insurance policies through text messages sent directly to their cell phones. Customers can opt-in to receive Progressive Direct® Mobile Alerts including payment reminders, sent in advance of billing dates; payment confirmations, sent once payment has been received; and other payment information.
Consumer Information
Snowbird report card reveals most provinces breaching the Canada Health Act.
Only the Canadian territories and the province of Prince Edward Island are living up to the requirement of the Canada Health Act to provide portable universal health care for the more than 41million trips Canadians take abroad each year, according to the 2006 edition of the Canadian Travellers' Report Card released by the Canadian Snowbird Association.
Canadians And Physicians Agree Benchmarks For Wait Times Are Part Of Health Care System Solution: Ipsos Reid Surveys.
August 10, 2006 Ottawa, ON - According to Ipsos-Reid surveys among the public and a CMA survey of physicians, a majority of both the general public and physicians recognize a need for health system performance measures like benchmarks for wait times (71% and 68% respectively), and for a "safety valve" that would allow patients to seek the care they need elsewhere if wait times are exceeded (84% and 85% respectively) -- preferably covered under their provincial health insurance plan (83% and 71% respectively) as opposed to out-of-pocket or through the purchase of private insurance (33% and 50% respectively).
Go off to College with Safety Tips and Adequate Insurance Coverage, says the I.I.I.
NEW YORK, August 8, 2006 -- Registering for classes, buying books and moving away from home are typical worries the college-bound face each year. Today, students must also add theft to their list of worries, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.).
Auto theft murals unveiled: Manitoba Public Insurance and Graffiti Gallery team up to deliver anti-theft message.
August 14, 2006 - Putting paint to brush, and brush to wall, 50 Winnipeg youth are producing a unique anti-auto theft message for their peers - a series of large graffiti murals.
Business of Insurance
Great American Insurance Executive Liability Division Opens New Branch Office in Canada.
CINCINNATI, Aug. 14 2006 -- Great American Insurance Group's Executive Liability Division is pleased to announce the opening of a new branch office in Toronto, Canada. The Executive Liability Division welcomes Michael Shore, CRM and Oren Schemool, MBA who will specialize in underwriting Directors' and Officers' Liability, Employment Practices Liability, Fiduciary Liability and other professional liability insurance products for companies and organizations operating in all ten (10) Canadian provinces and the Yukon, Northwest and Nunavut territories.
Average USA Insurance Premiums Hold Steady in Second Quarter: RIMS Survey.
New York, Aug. 16, 2006 - According to the RIMS Benchmark Survey™, commercial insurance premiums were flat to slightly lower in the second quarter of this year compared to the prior year. The RIMS Benchmark Survey is the industry's leading comprehensive survey of current policy renewal prices as reported by corporate risk managers.
U.S. Life Insurers Favor Principles-Based Regulation, But Have Concerns, According to Latest Tillinghast CFO Study.
STAMFORD, CT., August 9, 2006 -- More than 80% of life insurance CFOs favor the transition from formula-based to principles-based regulation for reserves and capital, according to the latest life insurance CFO survey by the Tillinghast business of Towers Perrin. However, only 37% of respondents favor the way the framework is currently being implemented. Key concerns include misinterpretation from external parties, possible non-standardization across companies and time-consuming calculations.
Distribution
Lloyd's Research: Dealing with distribution is key, say UK brokers.
04/08/2006 - Insurance brokers believe that changing distribution trends present them with both their biggest challenge and their greatest opportunity, new research reveals.
LIMRA Training Program Targets Improved Recruiting and Selection.
Windsor, CT, August 2, 2006 - Retention of new agents continues to languish near record-low
levels, but companies can learn how to beat those poor averages and outperform competitors by using
a new field management training program from LIMRA International. "The historic low level of career agent retention is really a critical issue for the life industry," said Bob Kerzner, president and CEO of LIMRA.
from Doug:
On Saturday we toured part of Ontario on our annual bus day-trip. We learned about the major impact of railways in mid-ninteenth century Ontario at Palmerston's Railway Museum (some of us engaged in a hand-car race beneath Ontario's longest pedestrian bridge); immersed ouselves in Diefenbaker and Royal heritage at the Diefenbaker Museum which is run by the Canadian Royal Heritage Trust and ate too much good food at Noah's Inn, both in Neustadt; and ended with a brief history of early settlement at the Queen's Bush Inn in Mount Forest. A good day which everyone seemed to enjoy. Once again it showed that there is interesting history almost everywhere you turn.