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FEBRUARY 5, 2019

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INSURANCE INDUSTRY NEWS

Record Agency Mergers & Acquisitions In 2018
Mergers and acquisitions of insurance agents and brokers last year broke several records in 2018, according to OPTIS Partners, whose database logged a record 626 deals in the United States and Canada in 2018. There were 611 M&A deals in 2017, previously the most active year. Read more.

Use Of Agile Development To Expand In 2019
Despite the almost ubiquitous use and relative maturity of Agile in the insurance industry, insurers continue to struggle with financial, organizational, and cultural issues that prevent their Agile adoption from leading to true transformation. In a new brief, Novarica discusses the current state of Agile, including its investment and expansion, best practices and benefits, and notable challenges. Read more.

Reinsurers Invest In Analytics, Core Systems
The reinsurance business faces numerous challenges, including years of soft market conditions followed by sudden, sharp hardening periods; tremendous losses from man-made and natural catastrophes; and open-ended liabilities such as asbestos and terrorism, requiring reinsurers to adapt and come up with creative solutions. In a new report, Novarica provides an overview of reinsurers' business and technology issues, data about the marketplace, several examples of recent technology investments by reinsurers, and top technology priorities for 2019 and beyond. Read more.

Opta Expands Innovations, Acquires getClarity
Opta Information Intelligence, Canada's largest property data aggregator and leading provider of property risk intelligence and loss control services, is excited to expand their suite of innovations to the Canadian Property and Casualty (P&C) Insurance industry with the acquisition of getClarity. Read more.

Cyberboxx Solution For Transportation, Logistics
Boxx Insurance Inc., a Toronto-based insurance provider, today announced a strategic initiative to help businesses in the transportation and logistics industry stay ahead of cyber threats with its flagship Cyberboxx™ solution. This initiative is part of broader investments to create differentiated, industry-focused, and cost-effective cybersecurity and cyber insurance solutions for critical, yet vulnerable, Canadian industries. Read more.

Petplan Launch With SPCA & Humane Society
The Ontario SPCA and Humane Society believes animals deserve the best care possible, which is why we have decided to relaunch our insurance program with the new SPCA & Humane Society Pet Insurance offered by Petplan®. Read more.

Lloyd Sadd Acquires Alberta Brokerage PL&B
Effective January 31st, Lloyd Sadd | Navacord is pleased to announce the acquisition of Pratt Lambert & Brown, who have been serving the needs of Edmonton clients since 1949. The Pratt Lambert & Brown announcement is the second in 2019 as the BMS Canada Construction team joined Vancouver-based Navacord Broker Partner Wylie-Crump on December 31, 2018. Read more.

Driver Cellphone Distraction Increased By Half
Manipulating a cellphone was a contributing factor in more than 800 crash deaths on U.S. roads during 2017 amid a marked increase in the percentage of drivers observed interacting with cellphones, new IIHS research indicates. Drivers in a 2018 survey were 57 percent more likely to be manipulating a cellphone than drivers in a 2014 survey. Read more.

Canadians Check Work Emails On Vacation
Half of Canadians say they check their office emails while travelling on vacation, and 24 per cent do so at least once each day, if not several times, according to the results of a new survey of Canadian travellers by Allianz Global Assistance Canada, a leading provider of travel insurance and assistance services. Read more.

Seatbelts And Car Seats: SGI Says #MakeItClick
During 2018's Traffic Safety Spotlights, police reported more than 4,700 offences for failing to wear a seatbelt or not using the appropriate car seat for kids. That's why February's Traffic Safety Spotlight is on seatbelts and car seats. Police will be looking for people not wearing a seatbelt, wearing one improperly, or not having children properly secured in the vehicle. Read more.


Technology Awards

Launching the People's Choice Award!

The ICTA jury has voted, but now you can be a juror!

Review the contenders for the 2019 People's Choice ICTA Award, and vote for up to three.

Cast your ballet by Friday, February 22. Your vote could decide the outcome!

Discover the winners on Feb. 26 at ICTC2019 in Toronto. Follow along on Twitter: #ICTA2019.


Insurance Works

Featured job opportunities:

Director, Property Claims
SGI CANADA
Saskatoon, SK

Manager, Commercial Insurance (Mid-Market)
Unica Insurance
Mississauga, ON


The Intersection: Insurance-Canada.ca Blog

What's going through the Intersection
of insurance and technology?

Inflection Point 2019: 8 Tech Essentials Digital Insurers Can't Do Without (Part 2)
By Brad Worth, EIS Group
You won't want to miss any of the action in 2019. In part 1 of this blog, I proposed that 2019 is the inflection point where many insurers make the fundamental technology pivot toward supporting new platform-based business models. Expect to see signs of future digital insurance leadership in the market. Part 2 will hit on the final four – from real-time UX to analytics and AI optimization. Read more.

Insurance Technology – Through The Generations
I am periodically amazed by the progress I've seen – spanning more decades than I'd like to admit. And I'm interested in how you see the interplay between insurance and technology. Read more.


17th annual Insurance-Canada.ca Technology Conference – “A New Insurance Order” – Feb. 26-27, 2019
17th annual Technology Conference
“A New Insurance Order”
Feb. 26-27, 2019 — Beanfield Centre, Toronto

As insurance participants innovate, they transform the industry. Practices which were formerly an art are becoming more of a science. But being human – authentic and understanding – is also important.

Compare your business and your planning against the rest of the industry at ICTC2019:

The Marketing Automation Platform: The Swiss Army Knife for Your Digital Strategy
Michael Turcsanyi, CEO, Goose Digital
Bill Pierznik, COO, Act-On Software

P&C Insurance Trends And The Implications For Claims
Roman Ryzer, Executive Director - Insurance, KPMG

Brokers: Taking That Next Step To Getting Connected
Kim Opheim, President, K. Opheim Consulting Inc.

Learn from the to[ics, discuss with the speakers, network with your peers.

Register now, or for complete details, visit insurance-canada.ca/ictc.

Thanks to our 2019 sponsors, including:
Goose Digital
TechCanary
Gowling
KPMG


From Doug

Amazon undoubtedly redeveloped their technology systems many times, to add a second product line, to enable others to sell products through the Amazon system, etc.

If a third party can set up, sell and entirely manage a new product on Amazon, then it would be a platform.

What are some characteristics of a platform?

Runs in the cloud. Has other InsurTech features, like a modern tech stack: advanced analytics, ML, AI, APIs, microservices, etc.

It should support an agile culture, i.e. rapid development and easy implementation.

At its broadest, a platform could operate a company in its entirety, effectively as a separate business.

Or any function – think claims as an example – through API integration could be handled outside the platform by an existing “mother” company.

A platform should offer flexibility and choice.

Is this tomorrow's world?

Among this year's ICTA nominees, there is one reference to a possible platform.

Discussion will continue at ICTC2019. Register today and join in!

Doug Grant, CIP
Partner
Insurance-Canada.ca

Doug Grant

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