Issue 2003-16: April 22, 2003
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.
Reference and Statistics
The Belton Report now Available, Fall and Winter combined Issue.
This issue contains the largest editorial we have ever written for The Belton Report. On reviewing the latest StatsCan data, which is six months old when it is released, we concluded that producing a quarterly report based on past history is not particularly useful. Instead, we decided to wrap Volume 14, Numbers 3 and 4 into one jumbo issue with no exhibits of stale data. This gave us the space to comment on the many forces that steer p&c insurance and the future challenges the industry faces.
Canadian Economic Outlook, April 2003: SwissRe.
All recent indicators of the Canadian economy suggest that the domestic economy is still healthy. Manufacturing shipments, wholesale sales, and retail sales all came in stronger than expected for January. More at http://www.insurance-canada.ca/refstat/canada/SwissReCdnOL200304.php
Business of Insurance
Maritime Life Releases New Term Life Product with Highly Competitive Rates.
The cost of a term life insurance policy with Maritime Life dropped across the board for all consumers with the release of its newest life insurance offering, Term Life Solutions. Over the 20 rate classes, consumers could see a rate decrease of up to 24 per cent. More at http://www.insurance-canada.ca/business/announce/MaritimeTLife200304.php
Manulife Bank raises rate to 3.05 per cent on Advantage Account.
Manulife Bank of Canada, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Manulife Financial, has increased the interest rate to 3.05 per cent, an increase of 55 basis points, for its Advantage Account -- a full-access, high-interest bank account. This market-leading account allows investors to earn significant interest on their short-term savings with easy access to their money. More at http://www.insurance-canada.ca/business/announce/ManuBank200304.php
Marketing Insurance
Chubb Launches an Interactive Business Recovery Planning Guide at RIMS Conference.
The Chubb Group of Insurance Companies has developed a Business Recovery Planning Guide to help companies create a comprehensive, site-specific business recovery plan. This interactive guide is available on CD-ROM and features editable questionnaires and checklists to help companies analyze their current exposures and develop a business recovery plan for their operations. The guide is free of charge to all businesses. More at http://www.insurance-canada.ca/market/other/ChubbBRP200304.php
Optimizing Online Ad Spending: eMarketer.
There is real growth coming back to online advertising, and this time, the emphasis is on real: it is from the traditional advertisers. We believe that there is increased awareness among traditional marketers that the Web is a powerful and cost-efficient medium that is heavily underutilized. We believe over the next three years, we will see a major evolution in the way marketers use online media. More at http://www.insurance-canada.ca/market/other/eMarketerAd200304.php
Mortgage Firms Prep For Post-Refi Boom Times, Gómez Scorecard Reveals.
As the extended refi boom winds down, mortgage firms are reinforcing educational content and financing calculators aimed at novice homebuyers, according to the Q2 2003 Internet Mortgage Scorecard released today by Gómez, Inc., the leading provider of Internet Channel Effectiveness solutions. More at http://www.insurance-canada.ca/market/other/GomezBoom200304.php
Claims
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On April 2, 2003, Insurance-Canada.ca's Claims seminar "Technology Differentiated Claims Handling" was held. A 25 page synopsis of the proceedings as provided by the speakers is now available in pdf format. It is being distributed to sponsors, speakers and the seminar attendees. It is available upon request to those from firms which have a preferred directory entry package or sponsorship with Insurance-Canada.ca, and for a $35.00 fee to others.
The description of the seminar is at http://www.insurance-canada.ca/seminars/seminar20030402.php which also provides a link to bio's of speakers and descriptions of topics.
To request or order, contact Doug Grant at doug.grant@insurance-canada.ca
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Distribution
Eastbridge Study Finds that Companies with Reps Who Specialize in Worksite Tend to Have Higher Total Worksite Sales.
According to a recent study of 32 worksite companies by Eastbridge Consulting Group, those companies with a "field force" specializing in worksite, tend to have somewhat higher sales than do those who promote worksite along with other products (such as group products). More at http://www.insurance-canada.ca/distribution/other/eastbridge200304.php
CSIO Insurance Portal Status Update
Week ending April 17: The number of brokers connected remains at 28. No other changes. Marshall indicates that there is a lot of activity and work going on at CSIO and at the member companies, and hopes that that will translate into status changes before long.
from Doug:
Easter weekend was a good four-day one for us. Nice weather, a needed spring rain to give real spring re-birth to much of the lawn and garden, family visits and several discussions around the meanings of Easter. We hope yours was good too.