AM Best: Canada Property/Casualty Insurers Well-Positioned; Life Writers Face Volatility in 2020 (AM BestTV)

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OLDWICK - SEPTEMBER 14, 2020 02:26 PM (EDT)
In this episode of ^AMBestTV, Brian Lynch and Anthony McSwieney, senior financial analysts, AM Best, said 2020 has brought fewer property/casualty (P/C) claims, but has increased investment uncertainty in the Canada market. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=ambcanada920 to view the entire program.

Lynch said Canada’s P/C industry remains on solid footing despite the pandemic.

“AM Best believes P/C insurers in Canada are well-positioned through 2020, as shown by their solid capitalization and risk mitigation practices,” said Lynch. “However, COVID-19 and the new normal are changing the lives of insureds. It is creating a slew of new benefits, as well as new challenges for insurance companies. Some of those new benefits relate to the remote work, whether it is the decline of ridership or the hyper-vigilance that comes with being home. Additionally, the new challenges include: how will these remote workers be covered in the future? Or what kind of cyber exposure has been exposed because of the rush to work from home?”

AM Best revised its outlook on Canada’s life/annuity industry in April 2020. McSwieney highlighted the rationale behind the change.

“The disruption in the financial markets due to COVID-19 triggered AM Best revising its outlook to negative from stable in April, and unfortunately, the fundamentals essentially has not changed. There are more known variables now than when AM Best revised its outlook, as things related to the volatility in the equity markets have caused some permanent losses for insurers. Now, that does not move the needle from a ratings perspective, but it does create volatility on the earnings side and the balance sheet side.”

To access the related market segment report, titled, “COVID-19 Taking Its Toll on Canada’s Economy and Insurance Industry,” please visit http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=300880 .

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^AM BestTV covers exclusive AM Best and insurance industry information and reports, targeted topics and key developments in the insurance, reinsurance and related sectors daily. Sign up for alerts of episodes at www.ambest.com/multimedia/ambtvsignup.html . View ^AM BestTV episodes at www.ambest.tv .

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in New York, London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City.