Issue 2008-41 -- October 28, 2008
This newsletter is for members of the Canadian Insurance Industry, and those who serve it. The newsletter is published weekly, and notes information mostly about the use of the Internet and related technologies in the industry. Some is international, where we feel it is relevant to Canada.
Claims
Automated Benefits Inc. Launches New Product - Adjudicare .
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Oct. 21, 2008) - Automated Benefits Inc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Automated Benefits Corp. (TSX VENTURE:AUT), is pleased to announce the launch of its latest software product. Adjudicare makes its debut today with a newly designed software application, a new website and a refreshed corporate look and feel.
CDRG Announces New Network Member in Truro NS.
We are very pleased to announce this very promising company to our growing network of independent restoration specialists. Although they are relatively new to the Truro area they are backed by 20 years experience in the commercial cleaning industry. With innovative procedures and techniques, Knight Kare will do everything that they can to insure that your property looks the best that it possibly can.
Canadian Defence Lawyers To Receive The DRI 2008 Rudolf A. Janata Award For Outstanding Defence Bar Association.
Toronto: September 11th, 2008 - Canadian Defence Lawyers (CDL) is thrilled to announce that we are the 2008 recipient of the Rudolf A. Janata Award. This award is presented annually by DRI – Voice of the Defence Bar, to an outstanding defence bar association. The winner of this award must have undertaken an innovative or unique programme contributing to the goals and objectives of the organized defense bar. All State and Local Defence Organizations of DRI are eligible and the final selection is made by the DRI award committee.
Distribution
Keal Technology and Aviva Canada Announce Integration of Commercial Insurance Systems.
TORONTO, Ontario - October 22, 2008 - Today, Aviva Canada and Keal Technology have announced that they will partner to enhance the ease of doing business for their mutual clients. Keal's commercial management system (CMS) comXP will be integrated with Aviva's Fastrax, a web-based commercial insurance application.
SunGard's WealthStation Integrates Financial Planning Content to Help Advisors Improve Sales and Client Relationships.
Salt Lake City, UT - Oct 20, 2008 - SunGard has enhanced the financial planning content available in its WealthStation wealth management platform to help firms attract, service and grow client relationships. WealthStation has been integrated with Advisys' Back Room Technician (BRT) to provide advisors with seamless access to content on a wide range of financial planning topics. The integration of this content, which is used to help engage and educate clients, will help customers of WealthStation build client relationships, increase sales through cross-selling, up-selling and prospecting, and improve the speed of closings on sales.
US Family Offices: Best Practices in Providing Financial Services to America's Most Privileged Households: Report Published by Celent.
Family offices have been a part of the wealth management landscape for a long time, and this is not expected to change in the near future. Specific families may grow or disappear, fortunes may increase or waste away, but family offices, once established, appear to stay on the wealth management scene for an extended period of time.
APA: Small Business Week great time for financial advisors/planners to review professional liability coverage.
Toronto - Small Business Week in Canada (October 19-25) is a perfect time for Canada's financial advisors and planners to set aside as an annual review of professional liability coverage, suggests the Advocis Protective Association (APA).
eBusiness and Technology
Information Builders Introduces New Do-it-Yourself Business Intelligence Tool.
New York, NY - October 14, 2008 - Information Builders, the independent leader in pervasive business intelligence (BI) systems, today announced WebFOCUS InfoAssist, an intuitive ad hoc reporting solution built on the latest in AJAX technology with a familiar Microsoft Office-like user interface. It provides business users with the easy to use, robust query, reporting, and analysis tool they need to make faster business and operational decisions.
IDC Finds Cloud Computing Entering Period of Accelerating Adoption and Poised to Capture IT Spending Growth Over the Next Five Years.
FRAMINGHAM, Mass., October 20, 2008 - Cloud computing is reshaping the IT marketplace, creating new opportunities for suppliers and catalyzing changes in traditional IT offerings. Over the next five years, IDC expects spending on IT cloud services to grow almost threefold, reaching $42 billion by 2012 and accounting for 9% of revenues in five key market segments. More importantly, spending on cloud computing will accelerate throughout the forecast period, capturing 25% of IT spending growth in 2012 and nearly a third of growth the following year.
CSC Study Identifies Emerging Wave of Disruptive Technologies That Will Reshape Business
FALLS CHURCH, Va., Oct. 22 -- CSC (NYSE: CSC) today announced that a wave of disruptive technologies is reshaping industry, triggering new business models and altering consumer and employee behaviors, according to a report issued by CSC's Leading Edge Forum (LEF).
Business of Insurance
Global insurance industry encourages enhanced regulatory cooperation: CLHIA.
TORONTO, Oct. 23 2008 - Fifteen associations representing the vast majority of the global insurance business, including North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and South Africa, presented a unified statement to the annual meeting of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) in Budapest, Hungary last week.
2009 P&C Insurance Technology Conference
"Leadership: The Business-IT Imperative"
The seventh annual Insurance-Canada.ca P&C Technology Conference Monday 23 February 2009 in Toronto.
Speakers and Topics include:
- Privacy Through Technology - Lead by Using a Positive-Sum Paradigm
Ann Cavoukian, Ph.D, Information & Privacy Commissioner of OntarioPeople keep asking, is privacy dead, in this fishbowl age of 'ubiquitous data availability'? To ensure public safety, privacy is a luxury standing in the way of societal goals, so privacy has to give way, right? Wrong.
We can have both, security and privacy. By adopting a "positive-sum" paradigm and wedding it to "privacy by design," you can advance to what Dr. Cavoukian is calling "Transformative Technologies," the next wave of privacy ... Come and learn about the next wave. More details.
For early program information and event details, see the conference overview.
Reference and Statistics
MIB Life Index Reports North American Life Insurance Activity Off 3.8% in September.
Braintree, MA. - (October 14, 2008) - North American application activity for individually underwritten life insurance was down -3.8% in September year-over-year, according to the MIB Life Indexsm. Year to date (YTD) U.S. and Canadian activity was off -1.9%, compared to the same nine months last year. Consistent with seasonal trends, application activity in September increased sharply compared to the prior August, up +8.6%.
P/C Industry's Net Income and Profitability Declined in First-Half 2008 on Underwriting Losses and Deterioration in Investment Results: I.I.I..
JERSEY CITY, N.J., Sept. 30, 2008 - The U.S. property/casualty insurance industry's net income after taxes fell 57.4 percent to $13.9 billion in first-half 2008 from $32.7 billion in first-half 2007. The insurance industry's overall profitability as measured by its annualized rate of return on average policyholders' surplus (or statutory net worth) dropped to 5.4 percent in first-half 2008 from 13.1 percent in first-half 2007, as underwriting results and investment results deteriorated.
Consumer Information
Ford F-Series trucks most stolen vehicles in B.C.: ICBC.
VANCOUVER, Oct. 22 - ICBC, the provincial government, and the Integrated Municipal Provincial Auto Crime Team (IMPACT) have announced new approaches to reduce the theft of Ford F-Series trucks -- now the most stolen vehicles in B.C.
Many booster seats aren't up to the job of improving safety belt fit for children: IIHS.
ARLINGTON, VA - October 1, 2008 -Booster seats are meant to do one thing — elevate children so that safety belts designed for adults are in the right position to restrain kids during a crash. These evaluations are the first to tell consumers how well boosters sold by US retailers improve belt fit for children in cars, minivans, and SUVs. The Institute plans to continue these assessments.
Marketing and the Market Place
Insurance.com RateWatch: Auto Insurance Rates in the United States Jump for 3rd Consecutive Quarter.
CLEVELAND, OH, 10/22/2008 - Auto insurance rates continued to rise throughout the third quarter this year, according to a study by Insurance.com, the largest online auto insurance agency in the United States.
from Doug:
The Executive and Committee Chairs of the Heritage Group I am heavily involved with were in town for our Fall Council meeting on the weekend. On Saturday evening a few of us were sitting around a restaurant dinner table when one of our Honorary Vice Presidents joined us briefly. He recently retired after thirty years as the Commanding Office of the Royal Yorkers, a reenactment unit based on the King's Royal Regiment of New York from the American Revolution. Then the stories began.....
It was a great weekend with many good friends sharing a bit of Canadian history.