Issue 2009-48 -- December 1, 2009
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.
Our People
Seneca "Donation for Education" Special Offer to P&C Industry.
On the heels of a successful launch of the Seneca College P&C program, Seneca announces a special offer to the industry - in return for a donation, receive education and access to resources. Funds raised will be used to fund expansion of the program.
Managing Relationships and Customer Service
Webinar: Are Your Customer Communications the Point of Your Customers' Disloyalty? By PBBI, SCG.
This one hour webinar, hosted by Pitney Bowes Business Insight and Simplified Communications Group, will be held Wednesday 16 December 2009, 2:00pm EST. Today customers expect to interact with their insurance providers across multiple channels.
Claims
Saskatchewan Workers' Compensation Board Selects FINEOS.
Dublin, Ireland, November 24, 2009 - FINEOS Corporation, a global provider of innovative enterprise software solutions for insurance and government insurance, today announced that it has been selected by the Saskatchewan Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) of Canada to deliver and implement a Commercial off-the-Shelf (COTS) full lifecycle claims administration system. The new solution will process claims in cases of workplace injury or death in the province of Saskatchewan. The WCB is the statutory body tasked with providing financial protection, medical benefits, and rehabilitation services to injured workers and their dependents.
Submitting claims electronically makes it a little easier to be green: Sun Life.
TORONTO, Nov. 26 2009 - With the click of a mouse and a few simple steps, Sun Life Financial's group benefits plan members can now submit virtually all of their medical and dental claims online.
FINEOS Extends Leadership in Workers' Compensation Claims With US Solution.
Dublin, Ireland, November 20, 2009 - FINEOS Corporation, the global provider of innovative enterprise software solutions for insurance, today announced the release of its new product to manage claims for workers' compensation claims in the US. The new product was launched at the annual National Workers' Compensation & Disability Conference in Chicago.
eBusiness and Technology
SMA P&C Study Sees Shift in Insurer IT Spending - Webinar and Reports.
Insurers continue to invest in IT with 76% planning to increase or hold steady their budgets in 2010, according to a newly released study. SMA Strategy Meets Action (SMA), a leading insurance industry analyst firm, disclosed these findings as part of the Insurance Ecosystem Research Series, a comprehensive study of what, why, how, and where the money is being spent from the perspectives of both insurers and IT solution providers.
Zurich Financial Services Group and CSC Sign New IT Services Contract in Europe and North America.
ZURICH, Switzerland, and FALLS CHURCH, Va., Nov. 25 -- CSC (NYSE: CSC) announced today that it has signed a ten-and-a-half year master service agreement with Zurich Financial Services Group (Zurich) for data center and information technology (IT) infrastructure managed services. The master service agreement provides the framework for country specific agreements to be subsequently entered into by the local entities of each party.
Business of Insurance
Announcing Aviva Canada's New President and Chief Executive Officer.
TORONTO, Nov. 26 2009 - Igal Mayer, incoming Chief Executive of Aviva North America, today announced the appointment of Maurice Tulloch to the role of President and CEO of Aviva Canada, effective January 1, 2010. As announced in October, current President and CEO, Robin Spencer, is returning to the UK to assume the role of Chief Risk Officer for Aviva plc.
Sun Life Financial proposes defined contribution pension plan for all working Canadians.
TORONTO, Nov. 24 2009 - A multi-employer defined contribution (DC) pension plan that allows every employer - including the self-employed - to automatically participate would greatly increase pension coverage for Canadians, according to a senior executive with Sun Life Financial.
Manulife Financial to Purchase Fund Management Joint Venture in China.
TORONTO, Nov. 23 2009 - Manulife Financial announced that it has signed an agreement to purchase Fortis Bank SA/NV's(1) 49 per cent ownership in ABN AMRO TEDA Fund Management Co., Ltd. for cash purchase consideration of (euro)105 million (US$156 million)(2). The acquisition is expected to be accretive to Manulife Financial earnings in the first year and have a negligible impact on capital levels. The agreement is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2010.
Solvency II now the principal challenge for Europe's insurers: MunichRe.
Munich, 26 October 2009 - "Insurers have mastered the financial crisis comparatively well so far. They now need to regain their former capital strength and secure it long term in order to meet the higher standards required by Solvency II. Munich Re will offer clients its full support in this connection. We create individual solutions for risk transfer that are specifically designed to provide the required capital relief for our clients", said Ludger Arnoldussen, member of Munich Re's Board of Management responsible for reinsurance business in Germany, Asia Pacific and Africa.
"The Importance of Models in Risk Management" by Julie Dickson, Superintendent, OSFI.
KPMG 2009 Annual Insurance Issues Conference, Toronto, Ontario, November 26, 2009 - I have often heard people say that the global financial crisis has demonstrated that the use of models was a fatal mistake by both regulators, and by financial institutions. Further, some say that the widespread use of models in the financial sector should be halted.
Consumer Information
Identity Theft: Computer crimes make headlines but thieves prefer low-tech, old-fashioned theft: Travelers.
HARTFORD, Conn.--Nov. 2, 2009-- Identity fraud increased substantially in 2008, reversing a four-year trend of decreasing incidents. Researchers say identity fraud increased by 22 percent last year and they anticipate another 22 percent jump in 2009, attributing the increases to crimes of opportunity driven by the economic downturn1. What's more, despite recent headlines and growing fears about online security and data breaches, old-fashioned theft is the most popular way thieves steal identities and perpetrate identity fraud.
Marketing and the Market Place
Context Matters More Than Ever for Canadians: eMarketer.
In Canada, almost 70% of the population is online in 2009-a higher percentage than in the US. The country also boasts some of the world's most active Internet users, who spent 42 hours and more online in one month alone. A survey by Microsoft Canada and OTX Research, carried out in June and July 2009, aimed to monitor changes in Canadians' attitudes and actions online since the first "Context Matters" study, commissioned by Microsoft in 2007.
Gamers Can Test Their Driving Skills with New Online Game from Progressive.
MAYFIELD VILLAGE, Ohio - October 13, 2009 - A quick trip around town becomes an important lesson in safe driving for online gamers when they play Progressive's new, online game Route-rageous! on Facebook or Yahoo! Games. Route-rageous! is the second online game developed by the car insurance company. The first, Special Investigations Unit: Case of the Crooked Crackup, is available on Yahoo! Games.
Reference and Statistics
Economic pressures drive steep increase in business fraud: PricewaterhouseCoopers.
NEW YORK and LONDON,19 November 2009 - Already beset by the global recession, nearly one in three organisations around the world reported they were the victims of economic crime during the past 12 months. Of those, 43 per cent said that the incidences of fraud in their organisations had increased during the period, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers' Global Economic Crime Survey 2009.
from Doug:
One more little indicator of global warming - Toronto saw no snow flakes in Nov. In 1937 (remember those stories of eggs frying on the sidewalk in the depression years) a trace, not measurable, of snow fell in November but those are the only times since records were first kept here during the 1840's, after William Lyon Mackenzie warmed things up in the 1830's.
We enjoyed seeing new and old faces at an extended family pre-Christmas gathering on the weekend. My wife did a family history presentation on two of the family lines dating back 400 years to England and Holland. Our hosts had their Christmas decorations all up; with all the packing and sorting we have been doing for the last year, I am not sure we will even find ours (enough of the Scrooge talk; I had better start digging).