New Brunswick`s Raymond White earns Established Leader honour

12,000 copies distributed coast-to-coast
january 2011
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Straight
shooter
Doing
it right
O lucky
man
Going
home
New Brunswick’s
Raymond White
earns Established
Leader honour
white knight
Insurer Showcase starts page 25
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Re view
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The Grain Insurance and
Guarantee Company is helping
hockey fan Kyle Buell (seated)
of Winnipeg get himself
and helpers Rick Morris and
Dorian Girardin to a couple of
Calgary Flames games.
Story page 6
C O V ER ST O RY
white
knight
Raymond White was top dog at New
Brunswick’s SouthEastern Mutual for
more than two decades, a mentor to
many and an enthusiastic educator at the
Insurance Institute. In recognition of his
many contributions to the industry, the
CIP Society presented the recently retired
White with its national Established
Leader award. Story page 10
Contents
Volume
16 Number
1
january
2011
F e at u r e s
12 Doing it right
Ken Armstrong’s Sussex Insurance, with 40 franchises and more on the
way, represents the largest Autoplan agent in B.C. It has partnerships with the largest grocery chain in the
country and the largest retailer in the world. This year the winning business model debuts in Alberta.
16 O lucky man Insurance wasn’t the first career choice of Peter Burns, the new president
of the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario. He first tried his hand at banking and then community newspapers. These days he’s the leading man at the Tillsonburg, Ontario brokerage Burns, Demeyere & Associates.
20 Straight shooter Manitoba’s Rick Swanarchuk joined the insurance industry
for the opportunities it offered those with his drive. The choice has worked out. Only 31, Swanarchuk is
already Aviva Canada’s commercial lines branch manager in Winnipeg.
22 Going home Saskatchewan’s Devon Hoff trained in hotel and restaurant administration and sold cars before going to work for the brokerage owned by his parents, Ken and Sharon, in
Rouleau, south of Regina. Yup, that’s where the TV comedy Corner Gas was taped.
d e pa r t m e n t s
6 StreetTalk 18 Storefront 44 TechWatch
45 TradeTalk 46 Ad index
Cover: Raymond White, recently retired president of New Brunswick’s SouthEastern Mutual
Insurance Company. Photo by Ron Ward/CP Images.
i n s u r e r s h ow c a s e
starts page 25
‘‘
Aviva Canada’s Winnipeg branch manager Rick Swanarchuk is a straight
shooter, a no-nonsense kind of guy,” says Tyler Bjornson, owner of the city’s
Bell & Cross Insurance and a former colleague. “He knows his job very well
and tells it like it is with customers. He’s a very smart risk-taker who takes the
right risks.
Story page 20
streeTtalk
Please e-mail StreetTalk suggestions to [email protected] in Vancouver or to our Prairies editor at [email protected]
IBAC partners with Laurentian U
to offer online degrees to brokers
T
he Insurance Brokers Association of
Canada is teaming
up with Ontario’s
Laurentian University and
its faculty of management
to make an online master of
business administration program and an honours bachelor of commerce program
available to insurance brokers
across Canada.
KYLE’S DREAM
Participants in our Sept. 2010 Helping Hands supplement
received contributions from this magazine that were intended to be re-directed to the charities of the companies’
choice. In all, Insurancewest kicked in about $10,000.
The Grain Insurance and Guarantee Company donated
its sum to Kyle Buell, a special needs student at Winnipeg’s Grant Park High School. Kyle, 16, who lives with
his grandmother, has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the
disorder’s severest form. He’s confined to a wheelchair,
able only to move his head.
Kyle hasn’t got long to live, and he knows it.
His biggest dream in life, however – after
graduating high school and university, and
then becoming a lawyer – is to attend a
couple of Calgary Flames hockey games,
see a practice, hang with the players and
“get my Kiprusoff jersey signed.”
Buell
Due to back surgery, Kyle is no longer
able to travel by plane, but he is healthy
enough to travel by wheelchair van.
Here’s the problem, explains Gary Dyson,
Grain’s VP marketing. To make Kyle’s dream
come true, he would need an electric hospital bed, a lift, a wheelchair-accessible van
and hotel room for five nights. Rick Morris
Dyson
and Dorian Girardin, his helpers, would
have to tag along. The total estimated
cost – about $8,000 – is more than his family can afford.
Kyle is hoping to see the last two Calgary games of
the regular season. That’s in April, when Prairie roads
are safer. “A little publicity might give Kyle’s fundraising
efforts a boost,” says Dyson.
Those interested in making Kyle Buell’s dream come
true can send donations to: Guidance Department, Grant
Park High School, 450 Nathaniel St., Winnipeg, Man. R3M
3E3. IW
6 January 2011 Insurancewest
“(The programs) provide
insurance brokers with a
unique and valuable opportunity to
gain additional
business skills
for success in
a competitive
and constantly
changing
Danyluk
industry,” said
IBAC CEO Dan Danyluk.
“(They) are affordable, fully
online and provide the flexibility needed for very busy
professionals.”
Courses will be offered in
management science, statistics, accounting, marketing,
organizational behaviour and
operations, with advanced
electives in business studies.
Both programs are available to brokers who are
members of any of IBAC’s
11 member-associations and
who have earned their CAIB
or CPIB designations.
Applications for admission
to courses beginning in September will be accepted until
March 31. For more information, visit the websites ibac.ca
or ibac.laurentian.ca.
DROPPING ANCHOR
StreetTalk checked out the
blog recently of retired Optimum West exec Cliff Quesnel
and wife Lynne, former VP
administration with the
insurer, who are on the first
leg of a round-the-world
sailing adventure aboard their
45-foot heavy displacement
vessel Taya.
“We are motoring under
the stars in calm seas and a
warm 26 C near Cabo San
Lucas at the tip of Mexico’s
Baja peninsula,” reports Cliff,
now sporting a bushy white
beard. “Several pods of
dolphins have
been playing
around our
boat.”
The couple
Cliff
is mooring for
Quesnel
the winter at
the El Cid Marina north of
Mazatlán, on Mexico’s west
coast, a city founded in 1521.
The surrounding waters are
known as a
sports fishing mecca
and were once
referred to as
Lynne
the playground
Quesnel
of Hollywood
stars like John Wayne and
Gary Cooper.
Judging by the blog’s photo
gallery, the Quesnels are having a ball and meeting plenty
of new people. There’s much
mention in their dispatches
of swilling cervezas and noshing on camarones with fellow
sailors.
“Prices are about 30 per
cent cheaper than in Vancouver,” Quesnel writes. “This is
no place to lose weight.”
They plan to visit Central
and South America before
hitching a ride on the trade
winds to the Marquesas
Islands in the South Pacific.
From there they’ll sail to
Indonesia and India before
cruising up the Suez Canal
to the Mediterranean, where
they intend to loiter a spell
before crossing the Atlantic
to the Caribbean. The last leg
will be through the Panama
www.insurancewest.ca
Canal and up the West Coast
to home port. Quesnel said
he expects the trip to take five
or six years.
“Mazatlán,” Quesnel said
in a subsequent e-mail, “will
be home till April. Then we’ll
sail up the Sea of Cortez,
spending six months there.”
StreetTalk will visit the
couple’s site occasionally and
report back to readers with
updates. Those wishing to
follow their blog can do so at
www.sailblogs.com/member/
taya. The Quesnels can be
reached by e-mail at clifford
[email protected].
MABE HEADS TEIG
The Economical Insurance Group has appointed
Katherine Mabe its president
and CEO. She succeeds Noel
Walpole, who
has retired.
Mabe, with 32
years of experience in the p&c
industry, previously served as
Mabe
www.insurancewest.ca
CANUCK GOLFERS win big
Golfers employed at three Canadian brokerages have raised a total of $56,500 for worthy
causes with winning performances at the 2010 Chubb Charity Challenge held on the Ocean and
Osprey Point golf courses on Kiawah Island, South Carolina.
The Edmonton brokerage Lloyd Sadd and its team of partners (pictured) Mark McKinley, Brian
Staden, Luke Horcica and president Marshall Sadd won $35,000 for the CHED Santas Anonymous
charity in Northern Alberta.
Ontario’s Jones Brown team of Ashley Chinner, Peter Bryant, Marc Puddy and John Lindsay
brought home $16,000 for Toronto’s Touchstone Youth Centre. Chinner also won the tournament’s putting competition.
The Hub International Quebec team of Pierre Simoneau, Stephen Blais, Christian Chartier and
Christian Brassard won $5,500 for the Rotary Club of Montreal.
The Chubb Charity Challenge has raised nearly $4 million for charities throughout the U.S. and
Canada since 2000. The 2010 tourney raised $925,000. IW
Insurancewest January 2011 7
®
W E ST E R N C A N ADA ’ S I N SURA N C E M AGA Z I N E
January 2011
Volume 16 • Number 1
Editor
Don McLellan
604-436-4900 • toll-free 1-800-998-5211
[email protected]
Prairies Editor
Ron Shorvoyce
403-601-6123 • toll-free 1-866-601-6555
[email protected]
Editorial Contributors
Jim Bensley, William Crossland,
Laurie Jones, John Lekich,
Stan Sauerwein, Ron Shorvoyce,
Advertising Sales
Linda Helme, Jim Bensley
604-874-1001 • toll-free 1-800-888-8811
[email protected]
[email protected]
Publication Managers
Fran Burnside, Susan Mellor
Art Director
Wil Wong
Accounts Receivable/admin
Cathryn Day
Associate Publisher Jim Bensley
Group Publisher Bill Earle
Kenneth R. Wilson Awards
2010 Finalist
Honourable Mention
2007, 2008
Insurancewest is published six times a year
– January, March, May, July, September, November – for the general insurance industry
by Insurancewest Media Ltd.
661 Market Hill, Vancouver BC V5Z 4B5.
Tel 604-874-1001 • Fax 604-874-3922.
Email: [email protected]
www.insurancewest.ca
Change of address? Please send old address
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More than 11,500 copies of Insurance­west
are distributed on a controlled circulation basis
to general insurance brokerages, independent
­adjusting firms, insurance companies, wholesalers and risk managers throughout Cana­da’s
four western provinces, Ontario, the Maritimes
and three northern territories. Included are
major insurance associations and ­organizations
as well as selected insurance services, suppliers and trades.
All rights reserved. Material appearing herein
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of the publisher. The opinions expressed in
Insurancewest are not necessarily those of
the publisher or its advertisers. Insurancewest
is a registered ­trademark of Insurancewest
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Insurancewest, BC Broker, British Columbia
Insurance Directory and Alberta Insurance
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Returns to PO Box 3311 Stn Terminal,
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CPC Publications Mail Agreement #40027261
president of the specialty products division of Nationwide Insurance Company
of America and as president and CEO of
Nationwide subsidiaries Titan Insurance
Company and Victoria Insurance.
ROBLIN CU EXPANDS
Jakeman Brook Brown Agencies, a midsized brokerage in Roblin, Man., has been
sold to the Roblin Credit Union.
The new manager, Ryan Keown, who
joined the operation in
September 2010, was
previously with the Swan
Valley Insurance Group
in Swan River, which is
owned by the Swan Valley
Credit Union. He said all
Keown
staff has been retained and
previous owners Gerry Brook and Ken
Jakeman will stay on temporarily to
ensure a smooth transition.
AVIVA FINALISTS
Organizers of the Aviva Community
Fund have selected 10 ideas supported by
brokers as finalists in the insurer’s second
annual competition.
One idea supported by a broker will
be awarded $25,000 outside of the $1
million Aviva Canada will present to the
competition’s overall winner. All submissions had to be judged to have a positive
effect on a community. Winners will be
lETTERS
pointless
I am writing to you as I, along with
my colleagues, found your Thought
du Jour on page 22 of the November
issue insulting and pretty much
pointless. You might think about
your audience when inserting these
supposedly humorous fill pieces.
Even if you consider us at the bottom
of the class, we can read!
Deborah Murray,
Western Financial Group,
Nanaimo, B.C.
announced January 25.
The 10 broker-supported ideas making the finalist list are: Fanning View
Park (Renfrew Insurance, Calgary,
Alta.); Splashpad St. Isidore (Courtiers
d’assurance MLS insurance broker,
St. Isidore, Ont.); The Well-Connected
Knowledge Centre (Smith Petrie Carr &
Scott Insurance Brokers, Ottawa); Help
Boston Terrier Rescue Canada (Palladium Insurance, Nottawa, Ont.); and
Walk This Way – It Begins With a Single
Step (co-supporters Oliver Insurance
Brokers, Ottawa).
The other broker-supported finalists
tiser
to our adver
s
Now COAST-TO-COAST!
Advertisers can reach their target markets
from the Maritimes to B.C. through the
pages of Insurancewest magazine.
We’ve added Canada’s eastern provinces to
our circulation – now 12,000 brokers, insurers,
risk managers and adjusters nationwide.
To discuss how you can best reach YOUR target market,
contact Linda Helme, Jim Bensley or Fran Burnside at
604-874-1001, toll-free at 1-800-888-8811, or by email at
[email protected]. www.insurancewest.ca
Printed in Canada • ISSN 1203-6706
8 January 2011 Insurancewest
www.insurancewest.ca
are SPCA Refuge (Fairway Insurance,
Shippagan, N.B.); The Tranquility
Garden of Life for Seniors (Wilson
Insurance, Fredericton, N.B.); La Table
est Mise (Courtiers Unis, Beauport,
Que.); New Furnace & Kitchen Update
(Bill Blaney Insurance, London, Ont.);
and Comfort Station for Camp Soleil
(Greg Raymond Assurance Brokers,
Noelville, Ont.). For more details, visit
AvivaCommunityFund.org.
EXPANSION
Red Deer, Alberta-based Clarke Insurance Services, which also has an office
in Vermilion, recently opened locations
under the
Clarke banner
in Calgary,
Lloydminster
and Blackfalds.
The business, which
The Clarkes
now employs
16 people in all, is owned by Rob Clarke,
a former president of the Insurance
Brokers Association of Alberta, and
his wife Laurel. The couple formed the
eponymous firm in 2008 after Rob left
the Phoenix Group, where he had been a
broker partner.
NEW CHAIR AT IIC
François Faucher has been elected
chairman of the board
of directors of the Insurance Institute of Canada.
Faucher is a senior VP and
head of operations at TD
Insurance in Montreal.
Karen Barkley, presi-
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Canada’s Top Insurance Lawyers
RAISING THE BAR
The U.S.-based publication Best Lawyers, which produces peer-reviewed
listings in practice areas in 48 countries, has awarded Insurance Lawyer of the
Year designations to a dozen Canadians.
They are: in Vancouver, G. James Killam (Killam Cordell Murray);
in Saskatoon, Shaunt Parthev (MacPherson Leslie & Tyerman); and
in Winnipeg, E. William Olson (Thompson Dorfman
Sweatman).
Ontario lawyers listed include, in Ottawa, Bryan
Nicholl
Carroll (Borden Ladner Gervais); in Thunder Bay,
Kristopher Knutsen (Carrel + Partners); in Toronto,
Steven Stieber (Stieber Berlach); in Windsor, Harvey
Killam
Strosberg (Sutts, Strosberg); and, in Hamilton, John
Soule (Thoman Soule).
Also named were, in Montreal, John Nicholl (Nicholl Paskell-Mede) and in Quebec City, Geneviève
Miller
Cotnam (Stein Monast).
Maritime insurance lawyers making the list are,
in Halifax, David Miller (Stewart McKelvey); and in Saint John,
Olson
Kenneth McCullough (Stewart McKelvey). IW
dent and CEO of Specialty Risk Underwriting, was elected deputy chair, and
Maurice Tulloch, president and CEO of
Aviva Canada, was elected vice-chair.
Chris Fawcus, president and CEO of Aon
Reed Stenhouse, is immediate past-chair.
Regional vice-chairs are: Louise
Bevan Stewart (Western provinces);
Carlos Rodrigues (Ontario); Nancy
LaMontagne (Quebec); and Brian
Houlihan (Atlantic provinces).
SIMON FARROW RETIRES
Simon Farrow, who co-founded ParaFaucher
gon Insurance in Vancouver, the precursor
to AXA Pacific, and as a choirboy in Eng-
land sang a solo for King George VI and
Queen Elizabeth, has retired after 52 years
in the industry. He was profiled in the July
’08 issue of Insurancewest,
which can be read online at
www.insurancewest.ca
Farrow, 70, has over the
course of his career also
worked for the Imperial
Bank of Canada, Phoenix
Farrow
of London Group, Guardian, Skandia, Chateau, Somerset Insurance, Zurich, Gan, Sovereign General,
Barton Black & Robertson and Thompson General Insurance. Since 2000 he’s
Continued on page 24
Insurancewest January 2011 9
Ray White was recently
honoured by the CIP
Society of Canada with
its Established Leader
award. HIs hobby is
flight simulation. “It’s
not a game,” he says.
“It’s like the real thing.”
white knight
cover story
After a lifetime in the
industry, New Brunswick’s
Ray White, president of
the province’s SouthEastern Mutual Insurance
Company, has retired. He
leaves behind a company
dramatically larger than it
was when he began working there, and is warmly
remembered by many an
appreciative student who
studied under him at the
Insurance Institute. One of
them is his successor at
the mutual, Darrel Coates.
By Ron Shorvoyce
10 January 2011 Insurancewest
R
ay White, the recently retired president/manager of SouthEastern Mutual Insurance Company in Riverview, N.B., has been a strong believer in giving back
to the industry.
A native of Amherst, N.S., White represented the third generation of his family
in the insurance business. His grandfather, B.L. White, who died in 1951, became a partner at Douglas Rogers Insurance in Amherst around the time of
the First World War. Ray’s father Gerry joined the business after serving in the military during
the Second World War.
“Dad retired as VP marketing in the mid-1970s and sold his shares. He passed away in 1982.”
Given the family background, one might assume Ray White was destined to work in insurance, although he didn’t know that when he graduated Amherst Regional High School in
1966. He hoped to become a teacher.
“I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from St. Francis Xavier
University in 1970 and stayed on for an education degree with a specialty in business. I
thought I might teach high school business.”
Just before finishing the education degree he had a chat with his father about insurance.
Everything changed. Teaching was out, insurance was in.
“He said something about me not being interested in the insurance business, but that
wasn’t the case. We had a real heart-to-heart. He had a lot of contacts in the industry. There
was a small agency in Bathurst, N.B. owned by a guy who was looking to get out. My dad said
it was a well-run business.”
White scraped up enough money to become the proud owner of W.C. Kent Insurance,
which he quickly re-named Kent and White Insurance.
“I grew it and loved what I was doing. But then I decided northeastern N.B. wasn’t really
where I wanted to spend the rest of my life. And while I really liked the insurance business, the
sales end wasn’t my thing. Mine was more administration and technical.”
In 1980 White went to work as a field underwriter and marketing rep with Prudential
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