Daily Market Update - December 22, 2014

Earthquakes hit BC over the weekend… Google and Apple could become major disrupters in insurance sector… Commercial realtors continue push for TRIA…

Risk Management News

By

Earthquakes hit BC over the weekend
A number of earthquakes shook British Columbia over the weekend with magnitudes of between 4.0 and 5.0. The first was detected mid-afternoon Saturday and there were further tremors through to the early hours of Sunday. The quakes were offshore and were not expected to trigger tsunamis.
 
Google and Apple could become major disrupters in insurance sector
The insurance industry could end up paying tech giants such as Google and Apple vast sums in the future as technology plays an even bigger role in the sector. Some industry experts predict that as smartphone usage continues to rise there will be greater use of telematics in the auto insurance sector and the tech firms are better placed than insurers to collect and process the data. Usage-based systems currently involve bespoke equipment to be fitted to the vehicle whereas smartphones are carried by most of us but it’s the actual range of data that’s available to the tech sector that is even more powerful. Sandeep Puri, consultant for Deloitte says: “Because of what Google and Apple can do, they are in the position to gather so much data and that data may be more insightful than traditional variables.” Speaking at a conference entitled ‘Big Impact Disrupters Enter the Market’, Puri warned that there could be a shift of power and that could mean the industry having to rely on the tech giants and pay for it: “Insurance companies do stand a risk of being somewhat disenfranchised from activities they’ve more or less controlled” he said. Read the full story.
 
Commercial realtors continue push for TRIA
The Real Estate Roundtable is urging the House and Senate to make reinstatement of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) a top national priority when the new Congress convenes in January. Jeffrey D. DeBoer, President and CEO of The Real Estate Roundtable today said: "This legislation is very important to maintain this positive growth [in the economy]. TRIA simply must be reauthorized as soon as possible to mitigate the economic damage that a lack of terrorism insurance will cause over time." He warned that without TRIA many commercial real estate projects may not secure financing and could be canceled leading to a loss of jobs and local tax revenues. 

Keep up with the latest news and events

Join our mailing list, it’s free!