Issue 2006-27: July 4, 2006

Reference and Statistics

2006 Canadian Insurance Annual Statistical Issue Available.
The Statistical Issue is .... Canada's most comprehensive roundup of insurance company underwriting results. A must read to knowing your industry!

U.S. Individual Life Insurance Sales Soar in First Quarter, LIMRA Reports.
Windsor, CT, June 7, 2006 - First quarter 2006 individual life insurance sales rose 15 percent in new annualized premium, compared with the first quarter of 2005, according to LIMRA International's quarterly survey of U.S. individual life insurance sales. The strongest increases were in universal life (UL) and variable universal life (VUL) products.

North American Life Insurance Activity Off 4.5% in May: MIB.
(Westwood, Mass. - June 20, 2006) North American application activity for individually underwritten life insurance declined -4.5% in May year-over-year, according to the MIB Life Indextm. Year-to-date (YTD), U.S. and Canadian applications have declined -2.4% year-over-year compared to a -3.3% decline seen in the first five months of 2005.

Consumer Information

Canada's home insurers applaud release of brochure "Insuring Old Homes in Nova Scotia".
A brochure titled "Insuring Old Homes in Nova Scotia" provides owners of heritage homes with information on insurance options available to them.

Is Your Business Prepared to Survive This Year's Active Hurricane Season? Advance Planning and Proper Insurance Essential to Recovery, Says the I.I.I.
NEW YORK, May 30, 2006-Communities can survive disasters only if their businesses survive. While there is no way to lower the risk of a natural disaster like a hurricane, there are critical measures that business owners can take to protect their company's bottom line from nature's fury. A disaster plan and adequate insurance are keys to recovery, particularly with the active hurricane season anticipated for this year, say the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I) and the Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS).

Ipsos Reid Survey: Many (35%) In Canada's Top Cities Are Likely To Consider Purchasing A Condominium For Their Primary Residence.
June 19, 2006 Toronto, ON - A large proportion of Canada's urban-dwelling adults are likely to consider purchasing a condominium as their primary residence, according to a new Ipsos Reid survey conducted on behalf of TD Bank.

Distribution

CPU Management Software Inc. and CompuOffice Software Inc. reach cooperative agreement for online services.
TORONTO, JUNE 27, 2006: CPU Management Software Inc. announced today that it has reached an agreement with CompuOffice Software Inc. where subscribers who also subscribe to the WinQuote system will enjoy seamless integration between CPU Management's newly released WebX/WinX and WinQuote. Among other benefits, the seamless interaction between CPU Management's WebX/WinX, provides for automatic, single click transfer of relevant data between WebX/WinX and WinQuote.

Distribution Service Satisfaction Survey 2006 by NewLink.
NewLink Group announces the launch of their inaugural annual "Distribution Service Satisfaction Survey." This is a comprehensive study of the attitudes and perceptions of insurance distribution in Canada towards service support from insurers. The study is currently taking place and will form the base line for future annual studies.

Better Use of E-Business Tools Key To Improving Wholesaler Productivity: kasina Study.
NEW YORK, JUNE 5, 2006 - Asset management sales teams must learn to better leverage e-business tools to effectively communicate with the extensive universe of financial advisors, says a new whitepaper released today by kasina, a leading consultant to the asset management industry.

ACORD Awards Honor Outstanding Achievements and Leadership at 2006 Forum.
LAS VEGAS, NV - May 22, 2006 - Recognizing outstanding accomplishments and achievements as well as leadership in the implementation of standards, ACORD held the 14th Annual ACORD Awards during the ceremony at the ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum in Las Vegas.

eBusiness and Technology

State Auto Finds a Better Way to Manage Documents with Mobius.
State Auto initially turned to Mobius in 1998 to help meet Year 2K content management requirements. Since then, ViewDirect® has become the backbone of the property and casualty carriers initiatives to streamline document access and improve work processes for employees and agents. Today, with 350 million documents stored in the ViewDirect repository and an average of 750,000 accesses a month, State Auto has eliminated the distribution of printed documents and has found a better way to do business with its independent agents.

Information Builders' iWay Software and AmberPoint Integrate Solutions to Provide a Foundation to Streamline SOA in Complex Environments.
New York, June 20, 2006 - iWay Software, an Information Builders company and an innovator of enterprise integration solutions, and AmberPoint, the industry's leading provider of service-oriented architecture (SOA) visibility, management, and security solutions, announced today that it is integrating AmberPoint's SOA management software into the iWay SOA Middleware Suite and is reselling AmberPoint as part of its total SOA solution.


Claims

Recognizing quality, safety and service, OneWorld Assist receives ISO certification.
Richmond, B.C, June 29, 2006 - OneWorld Assist, a leading provider of travel assistance, medical cost containment and claims administration services has received ISO 9001 certification, a premier standard for quality management worldwide.

Policy and Product Management

Camilion Announces New Releases of AuthorityUnderwriter, AuthorityOnline, and AuthorityTemplates.
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- June 29, 2006 - Camilion Solutions, Inc., a leading provider of product management, underwriting and online sales solutions to the insurance industry, today announced the Spring '06 release of AuthorityUnderwriter(TM) and AuthorityOnline(TM). Accompanying the two new solutions releases are four AuthorityTemplates(TM), pre-configured products and coverages for specific lines of business, which enable commercial and specialty P&C carriers to significantly reduce product definition and launch times. For the first time, AuthorityUnderwriter and AuthorityOnline also provide a set of out-of-the-box, pre-defined management reports and carriers can embed any reports created using virtually any reporting engine.

Business of Insurance

Industrial Alliance pursues its development in the mutual fund brokerage sector by acquiring Fundtrade.
QUEBEC, June 27, 2006 Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. ("Industrial Alliance") and FundTrade Financial Corporation ("FundTrade"), a mutual fund brokerage firm, announced an agreement whereby Industrial Alliance will acquire FundTrade. FundTrade operations will be integrated with FundEX Investments Inc. ("FundEX"), a mutual fund brokerage firm in which Industrial Alliance holds a 91.75% share.

Great-West Lifeco's U.S. subsidiary announces agreement to acquire 401(k) and defined benefit business.
WINNIPEG, June 26, 2006 - Great-West Lifeco Inc. today announced that its U.S. subsidiary, Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company, has reached an agreement to acquire from Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and its affiliates, several parts of their full service-bundled, small and midsize 401(k) as well as some defined benefit plan business.

Marketing and the Market Place

Introducing The Mobile Wallet: eMarketer.
JUNE 29, 2006 - No marketer in the world can ignore current developments in Japan. The dream of combining the buying moment with the marketing moment is becoming a reality, and it is called osaifu keitai ("wallet phone").

from Doug:

Recognizing that of course everyone's defintion of "good" is different, I hope you had a "good" Canada Day weekend. Ours was quite low-key. Our two boys were both here and we made a trip to visit both sets of grand parents. Other than that, nothing special, except of curse that it was Canada's 139th birthday. I wonder if there will be something more special next year given it will be the 140th?


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