2023 Executive Outlook | Aly Kanji, Insureline

Aly Kanji, president, CEO, Insureline

Canada’s P&C insurance industry is facing a multitude of issues requiring hard decisions and innovative solutions. Climate change and specifically the lack of earthquake capacity must be addressed head-on. Alongside climate change, consolidation and the war for talent are among the most significant issues requiring the attention of Canada’s P&C industry.

The insurance industry and government can no longer hide from climate change and its impact on insurance and infrastructure. A large-scale natural disaster could topple our otherwise financially stable insurance industry. Tightening earthquake capacity means the product as it exists today will either become unaffordable or unattainable for insureds wanting coverage. Given increasing deductibles, how much protection is the product even offering? Industry and government need to come together to conceive new and innovative solutions if Canadians are to be protected when the “Big One” strikes.

From a broker perspective, consolidation will continue at the current pace, which will push small brokerages into choosing to scale or to specialize. Scale can be accomplished several ways: pushing for growth, an outright sale, or joining a brokerage group. If you’re not going to scale, then you must identify niche verticals in which you can specialize as an expert, providing best-in-class service and expertise.

The insurance industry isn’t immune from the war for talent. As the world returned ‘back to normal’ in 2022, we all learned that working from home and hybrid work isn’t ideal for creating workplace culture, mentorship, and training & development. Bringing people back to work in the office may prove to be one of the greatest challenges of our generation. How each business chooses to evolve its workforce strategy may be the difference-maker in attracting talent; it may also define the organization’s growth and success going forward. Either way, as an industry, we need to do a much better job of selling what makes the insurance industry such an incredible fraternity.