The 94
th annual Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario convention’s popular CEO panel didn’t disappoint, with insurance industry heavyweights offering some frank views on where the industry is headed.
"If you keep doing things the same way, the future of distribution will not be us," summed up
IBAO board chair Deb Thompson, echoing the words from a panel that featured a lineup of Brigid Murphy of
Travelers Canada; Karen Gavan of Economical; Greg Somerville of
Aviva Canada; Jean-Francois Blais of
Intact and Bob Tisdale of Pembridge weighing in with their views on the current landscape of Canadian insurance, and their individual vision of where it needs to be taken next.
“The one concern I've heard is that 'the broker needs to change to survive in the future,'” said Tisdale, who drew an analogy to the industry of video rentals. "Netflix is a huge success; blockbuster is a huge disaster - but they have essentially the same business model."
Moderating the panel was CBC TV’s Evan Soloman, the host of Power & Politics and CBC Radio’s The House. Following the previous day's shooting tragedy, Soloman described the actions of the House of Commons' sergeant-at-arms Kevin Vickers as a "pure moment of heroism in our country," and asked everyone in the room for 30 seconds of silent reflection to remember the fallen reservist who had been killed while standing guard at the National War Memorial.
"You take care of the people who are in need to make them normal," Soloman told delegates.
The conference got off to an unsettling start, when a gunman that shot and killed a soldier at the National War Memorial placed the convention centre and surrounding hotels into lockdown Wednesday morning, as IBAO staff responded to the situation with vigour, praising delgates and convention and hotel staff for their patience, bravery and professionalism. (continued.)
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"Each of our hotels and the Ottawa Convention Centre did a fantastic job to make sure our attendees were safe and secure and out of harms wa," said Randy Carroll, CEO of the IBAO, in a statement to the press Wednesday afternoon. "Thank you to everyone in attendance for their understanding, for working with us and their patience during this troubling time."
See
Insurance Business breaking news from Wednesday for a timeline from the shooting, to the lockdown to delegates tweeting to loved ones:
Brokers 'we are safe';
Police believe multiple shooters involved;
Delegates tweet from convention; and
Shooting places convention under lockdown.
But despite the tragedy, the convention floor ribbon cutting went ahead Thursday morning, and the CEO Panel drew in the hundreds of broker delegates.
Murphy of
Travelers Canada stated that brokers need to get ready for tomorrow today by keeping the lines of communication open with their insurance partners, as they are the ones on the front lines with their finger on the pulse of the consumer.
"Work with us as a partner," she told delegates. "Brokers are the experts in what customers need. We need that feedback as insurers, to be kept in the loop."
What Blais of
Desjardins sees as a disruptive technology that is building broker relationships is usage-based insurance.
"Telematics is bringing fun to the insurance industry," he said. "People are talking about insurance for the first time in years."
Brokers and insurers in the room nodded in agreement when Blais said that although telematics is not a 'pull' product, it is improving the broker relationship, as it is a technology that has to be explained to the consumer. (continued.)
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Blais predicted that although technology will probably look very much the same five years from now as it does today, he did stress that brokers "have to start today" to upgrade and move with the times.
"Innovation will be essential in creating agile technology," said Blais. "We need to be web-based; we need to be rea-time, and we need to be innovative when it comes to technology."
Specialization was also a means for brokers to hand disruptive influences in the insurance scene - and another analogy to another profession was provided as an example.
"Butchers and bakers who specialized survived when supermarkets came on the scene," said Tisdale. "But if you try to be the same thing you've always done (operate like a large chain, as if nothing has changed) it won't work."
Aviva Canada's Sommerville agreed, citing the
Insurance Business article on the IKEA announcement to begin offering insurance in Sweden as one disruptive influence that is coming on the horizon.
The conference wraps up today with a number of educational breakout sessions, on such topics as: ‘How to attract quality prospects through your online presence,’ and ‘All customers are not created equal;’ followed as usual by the Awards of Excellence Gala this evening, which features the new category for 2014, the ‘Innovation Award.
