Issue 2006-37: September 12, 2006
Claims
Suncorp Selects Guidewire ClaimCenter®.
BRISBANE, QLD, AUSTRALIA and SAN MATEO, CA, USA, September 6, 2006 - Suncorp, the fourth largest general insurance company in Australia, and Guidewire Software®, a leading provider of solutions to general insurance and workers' compensation insurers, today announced that Suncorp has selected Guidewire ClaimCenter® as its new claims system. When fully deployed, ClaimCenter will support all phases of the claims process for Suncorp's personal and commercial lines of business. Implementation work has begun with the home products line of business which will deploy in 2007.
Our People
Gore Mutual partners with InsuranceWorks.ca to hold the most-talked about Job Fair of the year.
Energize Your Career: Gore Mutual Job Fair is a three-hour event commencing at 4pm on Thursday September 28th, 2006. Participants will get the opportunity to meet with members of Gore's management team, enjoy food and beverages and take a tour of Gore's beautiful heritage building in a leafy suburban setting.
DB Pension Plans No More Effective Than DC In Workforce Planning: Morneau Sobeco Survey.
TORONTO , AUGUST 28, 2006 - Morneau Sobeco's latest 60 Second Survey puts into question whether
defined benefit (DB) plans are a more effective workforce planning tool than defined contribution (DC) plans. The survey elicited responses from 218 employers across Canada, of which 52% provide mainly DB plans to their non-union employees while 32% provide mainly DC plans. The rest provide a combination of DB and DC plans, or no formal employer-sponsored plan.
Distribution
ColinaImperial Selects SunGard iWORKS for Sales Illustrations.
MIAMI, FL - September 7, 2006 - SunGard today announced that ColinaImperial Life Insurance Company has selected SunGard's iWORKS NAVIGATOR, a comprehensive suite of solutions for life insurance and annuity sales and support, including needs analysis. SunGard is a leading global provider of financial and insurance software solutions for both the individual and employee benefits industries.
New Eastbridge Report Looks at Voluntary Vision Products.
AVON, CONNECTICUT, USA (August 22, 2006)-According to a 2006 Eastbridge study on worksite sales, voluntary vision sales, albeit small at $15 million, showed a solid increase in 2005 (a 46 percent increase). The percentage of voluntary carriers offering a vision product has increased from 22 percent in 2002 to 31 percent in 2006, as per another Eastbridge study on product trends.
Business of Insurance
Major inroads into Canadian market - La Capitale acquires UAFC (Canada) Inc.
QUEBEC CITY, Aug. 3, 2006 - La Capitale Civil ervice Insurer Inc., a subsidiary of La Capitale Financial Group Inc., announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Universal American Financial Corp. to acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of UAFC (Canada) Inc. and its wholly-owned Canadian insurance subsidiary, PennCorp Life Insurance Company. PennCorp Life Insurance Company markets individual accident and sickness disability protection products across Canada through a field force of approximately 200 career insurance agents.
Industrial Alliance announces the amalgamation of FundTrade with FundEX.
QUEBEC CITY, Sept. 1, 2006 - Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. ("Industrial Alliance") is pleased to announce that it has obtained all regulatory authority approvals for the acquisition of FundTrade Financial Corp. ("FundTrade"), a mutual fund brokerage firm, and to amalgamate it, today, with FundEX Investments Inc. (FundEX), another mutual fund brokerage firm in which Industrial Alliance holds a 91.75% share.
Consumer Information
New era for renewing Manitoba driver's licenses; technology will improve security, usher in one-stop renewal process.
Manitoba drivers will soon be able to renew their driver's license through any Autopac agent in the province and on the same date as they renew their Autopac.
Hospitalizations due to traumatic head injuries down 35% over a decade: CIHI.
August 30, 2006-New data released today by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) show that fewer Canadians are admitted to hospitals due to traumatic head injuries than were a decade ago. In 2003-2004, 16,811 were admitted to hospitals compared to 25,665 in 1994-1995, a 35% decrease.
Canadian Standards Association Unveils Workplace Safety Management Standard.
Toronto, September 6, 2006 - Canadian Standards Association (CSA), a leading developer of standards and codes, today unveiled Canada's first consensus-based occupational health and safety (OHS) management standard. The new standard, titled CSA Z1000-06 Occupational Health and Safety Management is intended to help organizations reduce or prevent Canada's current number of injuries, illnesses and fatalities in the workplace by providing companies with a model for developing and implementing an OHS management system.
Policy and Product Management
Manulife Financial selects RBC Dexia Investor Services as Fund Administrator for its Cdn$26 billion portfolio.
Corporation today announced that its Individual Wealth Management and Group Savings and Retirement
Solutions businesses have selected RBC Dexia Investor Services to provide Fund Administration services for their Cdn$26 billion portfolio of funds in Canada.
Conning Research: Variable Annuity Companies Must Manage Product Complexity to Compete.
(Hartford, CT) September 5, 2006 - An increase in product features and guarantees have driven variable annuity growth in recent years, but a new study from Conning Research & Consulting Inc. suggests that this strategy has also greatly increased the complexity of both the products and the associated management effort required by insurers.
Reference and Statistics
North American Life Insurance Activity Off 5% in July: MIB.
(Westwood, Mass. - August 28, 2006) North American application activity for individually underwritten life insurance was off -5.0% in July year-over-year, the fifth consecutive month of 2006 declines, according to the MIB Life Indexsm. Year-to-date (YTD), U.S. and Canadian application activity was off -3.1% compared to the same seven month period in 2005.
eBusiness and Technology
Document Management for Insurers: Overview and Solution Spectrum - Report Published by Celent.
Boston, MA, USA - August 30, 2006 The insurance industry is awash in paper, and in technology solutions to help it deal with that paper. Celent's new report, Document Management for Insurers: Overview and Solution Spectrum, helps insurers cut through the clutter to identify their key issues, formulate their strategies, and understand their technology options in different areas of document management.
IDC Forecasts Growth for Remote Access Services Software as Businesses Develop Continuity Plans.
FRAMINGHAM, Mass., August 24, 2006 - With tensions broiling in the Middle East, renewed threats for commercial aviation, and hurricane season upon us, businesses are assessing their risks and disaster recovery plans to meet potential security threats and natural disasters. A critical part of any disaster recovery plan is ensuring business continuity by providing employees, partners, and other constituencies with access to critical resources and data while they are away from the office.
from Doug:
Our local Cabbagetown Community Festival this past weekend continues to grow each year with a myriad of events. A good time, but the damp and cool day on Saturday, the biggest day of the festival, thinned the crowds quite a lot. It is gratifying though to see the sense of local community blossoming, especially within the context of a large city.