Issue 2003-32: August 12, 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.
Insurers Responding Quickly to BC Fire Crisis: IBC.
VANCOUVER, Aug. 3 2003 - BC insurers are acting quickly to assist those whose homes and businesses have been affected by the forest fires currently raging in the province, according to Insurance Bureau of Canada.
Home Burglaries Spike In Summer Months As More People Head Out For Vacation -- Protect Your Home And Your Identity, Warns The I.I.I.
July 2003 -- NEW YORK -- As you leave on vacation, protect yourself against a physical break-in and a virtual break-in, warns the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.). With over 160,000 cases reported last year, identity theft is one of the fastest growing white collar crimes in the country, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
Product Announcements
Transamerica blends investment expertise and capital protection in new, streamlined family of guaranteed investment funds.
TORONTO, August 6, 2003 - Simplified choice and powerful protection are at the heart of Transamerica Life Canada's next generation of segregated funds - imaxxGIF(TM). These 20 innovative guaranteed investment solutions offer Canadians the opportunity to grow and preserve their capital. imaxxGIF is a range of optimized guaranteed investment funds (GIFs), asset allocation GIFs, and guaranteed investment portfolios (GIPs) to suit the financial planning needs of every investor.
Distribution
Advocis Launches Online "Jobs for Advisors" Career Portal.
Toronto (August 6, 2003) Canada's largest association of professional financial advisors launched its own exclusive online job search engine today for its members. Jobs for Advisors on the www.advocis.ca Web site allows members to search and apply for positions that are tailored to their skill sets.
IVANS(R) and Metaserver, Inc.(TM) Announce Strategic Alliance.
New Haven, Conn. - June 2, 2003 -- Metaserver, Inc., a developer of business process integration (BPI) software, today announced it has entered into a strategic partnership agreement with IVANS Insurance E-Commerce Solutions, a division of IVANS, Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, Metaserver and IVANS will engage in joint selling and marketing activities and offer a complete, packaged solution to help property and casualty carriers fulfill real-time requests from independent agents. These requests include new business transactions such as homeowners and auto quoting and new policy issuance, as well as first notice of loss, claims inquiry, billing inquiry, and other personal and commercial lines transactions supported by ACORD XML.
CSIO Insurance Portal Status Update
Week ending August 8: Nothing new for those things we report this week.
Managing Relationships and Customer Service
kasina on Institutional Asset Management Web Sites: "Getting Warmer".
New York City, September 21, 2001 - Institutional asset management Web sites have continued to improve in many areas, according to kasina, LLCs , "Institutional Web Sites: Trends and Best Practices," whitepaper which has just been published. This research was conducted as a follow-up to the consulting firm's initial study of the institutional market in 2001. In addition to industry trends, the study also identifies the "Top 10 Web Sites - Institutional Asset Management."
Claims
One in Three Americans Say It's Acceptable to Inflate Insurance Claims, But Public Acceptance of Insurance Fraud Is Declining: Insurance Research Council.
July 24, 2003, MALVERN, Pa.- One in three U.S. adults-33 percent-say that it is all right to exaggerate insurance claims under certain circumstances, according to a recent Insurance Research Council (IRC) survey. These respondents agreed that it is acceptable to increase the amount of an insurance claim by a small amount to make up for a deductible.
Policy Management
Blue chip partners to help deliver Kinnect: Lloyds.
28 July 2003 (London) -- Five established international consultancies have joined the Kinnect implementation partner program. The team of blue chip, technology specialists will work with customers to analyse their business processes and infrastructures, assess their data needs and produce tailor made solutions to connect them with their trading partners across the Kinnect Platform.
Technology and eBusiness
IT Spending in European Insurance: Report by Celent.
July 31, 2003 -- In a new report, IT Spending Trends in European Insurance, Celent estimates that European insurance carriers will spend Euros 21.7 billion on information technology in 2003, reaching Euros 22.3 billion by 2004. Celent examines the European insurance industry, taking a close look at the insurance markets in the following countries: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK. These countries account for 80% of the total IT spending in Europe. The study includes strategies achieved by IT, distribution methods, IT spending, and examples of IT projects at insurance firms. Celent's study concludes with a discussion of the future of the European insurance market.
XML-Based Standards to Play a Vital Role in Cash Management, Payments Channels: TowerGroup.
NEEDHAM, MA, July 22, 2003While the case for using extensible markup language (XML) standards has been made relative to a broad range of industries and applications, the financial services industry is now beginning to recognize the vital role XML will play in payments - particularly the payment-related demands of e-commerce and the online channel. Across the financial services industry, e-payment standards have reached only an interim stage in their evolution.
from Doug:
I am sending this on Monday evening, as I will be hosting our broker seminar all day Tuesday. Journeyed off to Waterloo late this afternoon to bring University son home after his last summer-term examination. Three weeks before he starts his work term, again in St Catharines at GM.
One son's birthday is Tuesday, the only one this year for which we will all be together, so a small celebration.