| In
the Industry |
In
this issue |
Reinsurance
Association of America releases 12 month underwriting results
In a survey of reinsurers' statutory underwriting
results conducted by the Reinsurance Association of America
(RAA), a group of 19 U. S. property-casualty reinsurers
wrote $23.9 billion of net premiums during the twelve-months
ended December 31, 2008, an increase of $6.0 billion from
the same period in 2007.
The combined ratio for the group was 101.8%, deteriorating
from the 94.7% combined ratio reported for the same period
in 2007. The combined ratio is attributable to a 71.0% loss
ratio and an expense ratio of 30.7 %. Policyholders' surplus
was $64.4 billion, down from the $75.9 billion reported
for the same period in 2007.
March is Fraud Awareness Month
- Who are the Fraudsters?
In these economic times investors should be
aware that fraudsters can come in all shapes and sizes.
Who commits fraud? What characteristics should you look
for? In Canada, almost 3/4 of fraudsters were men. Most
commonly, they have been with their employer for 3-5 years.
69 per cent of fraudsters were between the ages of 30 and
49. All of this is according to the latest study by KPMG
entitled Profile of a Canadian Fraudster.
The survey polled senior executives such as CFOs and Vice-Presidents
from across Canada and covered a wide range of industries,
including Financial Services, Energy and Natural Resources,
Consumer Markets, and Industrial Markets. One quarter of
respondents had revenues of over CAD$1 billion, with another
quarter having less than CAD$100 million in revenues.
"Now more than ever, Corporate Canada cannot afford
to wait for a Ponzi Scheme or more tales of corporate greed
to occur before they take the problem seriously. Shareholders
are demanding more accountability in these times,"
says James Hunter, National Leader of KPMG's Forensic practice.
The report revealed that 69 percent of fraud cases were
internal jobs, 20 percent external ones, and 11 percent
involved both insiders and outsiders.
Sixty-two percent of frauds were carried out by individuals
below the level of management, while 22 percent were carried
out by senior management.
Other highlights from the survey:
- Most commonly, the fraudster will have been working
for the defrauded
company between 3 and 5 years.
- The education level of those committing fraud varied:
40 percent had
no post-secondary education, 30 percent had some post
secondary
education, while 26 percent had either a university degree
or a
professional designation.
- Seventy-three percent of fraudsters acted alone and
in a mere 7
percent of the cases more than 5 people were involved.
- The three main factors reported as leading to fraud
were personal
need (28 percent), opportunity (19 percent), and greed
(14 percent).
- Interestingly, bad habits (alcohol, drug abuse, gambling)
were a
factor in only 11 percent of reported cases.
To detect and prevent fraud, companies should look at three
things:
- An effective whistleblowing hotline
- A robust and properly implemented code of business
conduct
- A consistently applied and thorough system to prescreen
new hires.
|
•
In the Industry
• Friendly Reminder
• At ILScorp: save 15%, holiday hours,
ILScorp's Ethics courses |
|
| Just
12 days left for our Super deal |
We're
turning International Women's Day (officially held
on March 8) into a month-long event. And you can benefit!
Until March 31, receive a 15% discount
on the following three courses:
- Successful Communication
- Advancing Corporate Goals via the Media
- What to do when the Media Call
"Successful Communication"
examines the impact of personal relationships on communication.
It's not always merely about words, presenter Julia
Simpson says, but group and individual dynamics can
have great effects on a message.
In "Advancing Corporate Goals via the
Media", long-time journalist and media
instructor Susan Swedberg-Kohli explains how traditional
media exposure can help grow your business, providing
certain steps are taken to maintain control.
In "What to do when the Media Call",
subscribers can find out how to handle calls for interviews
or quotes. With the insurance and financial services
industries making headlines across the world, a little
bit of media training can help you and your business
come out on top.
To take advantage of these great savings, visit our
Super
Courses page and enter the code Superwoman
at the checkout to have your 15% discount applied.
ILScorp's Ethics and the Insurance Professional
a valuable tool in today’s economy
As more and more details start to come out about less-than-standard
business practices and underhanded financial dealings,
people in all levels of business are starting to wonder
what ever happened to ethical behavior. Have ethics
in business become extinct? ILScorp recognizes the
importance of an ethical insurance industry. To support
the industry through training, the series of three
ethics courses is available for all General Insurance
subscribers. The series, called Ethics and the Insurance
Professional, guides students through real-life scenarios
and determines whether a broker's actions are ethical/not
unethical or unethical.
Written by ILScorp founder and long-time insurance
educator Steve Hawrishok, this series of courses tackles
the issues and leads brokers and insurance professionals
through a series of real-life scenarios.
The scenarios used in these courses were developed
using existing Schedules and/or Bylaws of various
Canadian regulators. "This has enabled us to
ensure that we address the majority of regulations
applicable to broker conduct in the majority, if not
all, provinces," said Mr. Hawrishok
Each course is accredited for two CE credits, for
a series total of six CE credits.
Don't have a General Insurance subscription? Get one
today – for just $125 (plus tax), enjoy one-year
unlimited access to more than one hundred General
Insurance courses designed specifically for Canadian
insurance professionals.
Prefer to access the Ethics and the Insurance Professionals
course without a subscription? No problem. Each course
is available for $75.
Still want more information? Visit our web
site or give us a call at 1-800-404-2211.
|
|
| Friendly
Reminder |
| May
31, 2009 is a busy day for insurance licensing . The
following professionals need to have all of their
continuing education credits in place by May 31, 2009:
- General Insurance Agents and
Life and A&S Agents in
Manitoba
- Insurance Adjusters in Alberta
- General Insurance Agents, Adjusters,
and Life and A&S Agents in
British Columbia
While there is still time to get all of your required
credits in place, we recommend beating the deadline
by completing your courses now.
ILScorp has hundreds of hours of accredited courses
online. Browse through our catalog to find something
that is interesting and relevant to you and your job
role and get started with just a couple of clicks
of the mouse.
Are you in an office with two or more
people who need CE credits? Contact ILScorp today
to find out how a group membership could save you
money.
|
| Holiday
Hours at ILScorp |
Please
note that the ILScorp office will be closed
on Friday, April 10. We will be open
again on Monday, April 13.
We hope you enjoy the long weekend. Should you wish
to complete courses or access other ILScorp features,
you may – all of our courses and content are
available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Simply
log into your account at www.ilscorp.com
to get started.
Share your news with ILScorp and Canada
– for free!
At ILScorp's News
and Articles section, users have the ability to
post their news for free.
Whether you have a new product announcement or would
like to celebrate the career of a retiring colleague,
the News and Articles section will help get your information
out to over 23,000 subscribers. It's easy to get
started:
- Go to www.ilscorp.ca/articles
or follow the News and Articles link from the main
page home page
- Click on "Become an Author"
- Fill out the required fields
- Submit and wait for account approval
- Once your account is approved, log in and click
"Submit an Article"
If you have a story idea that you think is perfect
for ILSTV, send an email to story@ilstv.com.
Would like to send ILSTV a press release? Simply add
pressrelease@ilstv.com
to your distribution list and we will follow up with
you.
ILSTV: Your source for daily updated industry
news
 Visit
www.ilstv.com
to get your daily dose of industry news – all
for free.
Each day, new relevant news stories are posted, making
it easy for today's busy professionals to get all
of the information they really need.
Every new story included in the webcast is transcribed,
so you can view the video version on your computer
or read the text version at anytime. The choice is
yours.
Of course, access to ILSTV is free. It’s your
one-stop-shop for Canadian insurance and financial
services news.
Here's what people are saying about ILSTV:
- It's easy to quickly scan and get where I want
to go. The articles are short and to the point, for
quick review in these busy times.
- I like the video links – it is nice to
hear directly from the source.
What do you think of ILSTV? Click here
to let us know.
|
|
|
|
