Issue 2009-08 -- February 24, 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.
Policy and Product Management
CAA Insurance Company (Ontario) goes live with GIMS from Tritech.
February, 2009 (Toronto) - CAA Insurance Company (Ontario) went live with GIMS, a leading-edge Enterprise P&C solution from Tritech Financial Systems Inc.
eBusiness and Technology
Merger & Acquisition Case study from Cognizant Technology Solutions.
With industry returns and capital levels under pressure, conditions are more conducive to industry consolidation and increased M&A activity. Global merger and acquisitions in the insurance sector have reached all time record of 148.7 billion dollars in 2008, up 34 per cent from the previous year. Strategic activity accounted for 97 per cent of total activity in the industry, as compared to 83 per cent in 2007. Insurance companies in the United States made the maximum number of acquisitions.
2009 US Insurance CIO Survey: Pressures, Priorities, and Practices: Report Published by Celent.
San Francisco, CA, USA - January 29, 2009 - In a new report, 2009 US Insurance CIO Survey: Pressures, Priorities, and Practices, Celent highlights business issues and IT priorities reported by property/casualty and life/health CIOs. Findings include allocation of resources for new initiatives, year-to-year changes in IT budgets, and the anticipated evolution of technology platforms over the next three years.
TowerGroup: IT Spending by U.S. Financial Services Suffers Worst Decline in History.
NEEDHAM, MA, January 28, 2009 - After several years of consistent 4 to 6 percent growth, new research from TowerGroup finds that overall technology spending by U.S. financial services institutions is now declining for the first time in U.S. history. As a result, firms are expected to scrap ineffective (or low-impact) projects and delay new investments until 2010.
Distribution
Deployment of a Modern Broker Portal to achieve Ease of Doing Business: iter8.
Two mutual insurers have begun 2009 with optimism. These two firms - Peel Mutual Insurance Company and Bay of Quinte Mutual Insurance Company – have deployed a modern Broker Portal in order to achieve ease of doing business, including real-time rating, underwriting, underwriter workflow, third party report retrieval & integration, and broker systems connectivity.
New online tool from Progressive lets drivers customize their car insurance to fit their budgets.
MAYFIELD VILLAGE, Ohio - February 9, 2009 - Wouldn't sticking to a budget be easier if you could pick and choose how much you pay for things like cable television, dry cleaning, or even groceries? Well, unfortunately you can't tell the cable guy that you only want to pay $5 for service this month. But now you can tell your car insurance company how much you want to pay for your policy.
Business of Insurance
Preventing Another Financial Catastrophe with Enterprise Risk Management: RIMS.
NEW YORK (January 26, 2009) - The Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) released an executive report today titled "The 2008 Financial Crisis: A Wake-up Call for Enterprise Risk Management," petitioning a call to action for enterprise risk management.
Accenture Identifies Imperatives for Business, Government In Times of Economic Uncertainty.
DAVOS, Switzerland; Jan. 28, 2009 - Companies seeking to improve business performance in the midst of the current global economic crisis should focus on three strategic objectives in 2009, according to Accenture (NYSE: ACN):
Consumer Information
ICBC names top five frauds for 2008.
February 16, 2009 - A staged accident ring, a bribe and a fraudulently reported stolen motorcycle are among ICBC's 2008 list of Top Five Frauds, highlighting individuals and groups who were caught trying to defraud the public insurer and its customers last year. They were among 2800 cases of fraud investigated and 54 convictions achieved by ICBC's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) in 2008.
Marketing and the Market Place
Men more optimistic than women about their financial health: Russell Investments.
TORONTO, Jan. 29 2009 - The Russell Financial Health Index (RFHI) - a quarterly online calculator that allows investors to compare their financial health to other Canadians across the country - recently dropped 3 points from 53.8 to 50.7 as the economic and market downturn impacted how Canadians felt about their financial health.
A Billion Internet Users, and Counting: eMarketer.
FEBRUARY 17, 2009 - The moment when the Internet passed 1 million users is veiled in history. The truth is, whenever it happened, no one was counting—or even had the means to do so. But according to the "Internet Growth Survey" from MIT, there were 1 million hosts (defined as either a computer or IP address) in 1995. At the time, it was estimated that the Internet was doubling in size every year, so there would be over 1 billion users in 2005.
Managing Relationships and Customer Service
AXA Equitable, MassMutual, and New York Life Praised for Strong Online Offerings in New Report: Novarica.
January 29, 2009 (New York): Novarica, a research and advisory firm, singled out MassMutual, AXA Equitable, and New York Life for their strong online customer service offerings in a new report published today, Online Customer Service at Top US Life/Annuity Insurers.
Industrial Alliance launches Your Interactive Virtual Guide: multimedia video segments and interactive applications for group pension plan members.
QUEBEC CITY, Feb. 17 2009 - Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. announces the launch of its retirement planning service, Your Interactive Virtual Guide. Designed for group pension plan members, Your Interactive Virtual Guide is an educational series of video segments with interactive elements on retirement planning. This service is available online, on Industrial Alliance's secure website.
Texas Windstorm Insurance Association Selects Guidewire BillingCenter.
AUSTIN, Texas and SAN MATEO, California, February 17, 2009 - The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA), insurer of last resort for windstorm and hail coverage in the coastal counties of Texas, and Guidewire Software®, a leading global provider of solutions to property/casualty insurers, today announced that the TWIA has selected Guidewire BillingCenter® as its new billing system.
from Doug:
The workload challenge presented by yesterday's conference has mostly passed now for another year, except for all of the tidying up, analysis, debriefing, thank you notes, etc. If I do say so myself, the event seemed to go fairly well, but the evaluation forms will give us a better understanding of what the attendees thought. Then we will have a better idea of what we should change for next year. With a little less work from that side, maybe I can catch up on too many things which have slipped over the last six weeks. If something from you has fallen into that category, my apologies.