Intact : Everything you need to know

Intact: Everything you need to know

Intact: Everything you need to know

Intact Financial Corporation is the largest provider of property and casualty insurance in Canada, and is also a major provider of specialty insurance in North America, bringing in approximately $20 billion in total premiums each year. The company services more than five million personal, business, public sector, and institutional clients through offices in both Canada and the United States.

In the Great White North, Intact distributes insurance under the Intact Insurance brand, utilizing a network of brokers that includes its wholly-owned subsidiary BrokerLink. It also distributes directly to consumers through belairdirect. South of the border, Intact works through OneBeacon Insurance Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary, which provides specialty insurance products through independent agencies, brokers, wholesalers, and managing general agencies.

The company’s history in Canada dates back to 1809, when the Halifax Fire Insurance Association was formed, and was later acquired in the 1950s by the Dutch Nationale-Nederlanden, which at the time was one of the largest insurance companies in the Netherlands. In 2009, Intact became a widely-held Canadian company, and changed its name from ING Canada to Intact Financial Corporation.

Intact in the news

2004: ING acquired Allianz Canada, followed shortly after by an IPO on the TSX|
2009: Intact Insurance launches its first national television campaign
2011: Intact announces acquisition of AXA Canada for $2.6 billion
2016: Intact’s ridesharing insurance policy gets go-ahead in Ontario, and also launches commercial drone insurance for small and medium-sized businesses
2017: Intact acquires OneBeacon Insurance Group, making the company one of the leading speciality insurer in North America with over $2 billion in annual premiums
2020: Intact Financial integrates North America specialty insurance units
2020: Intact Financial launches its own small business financial support program
2020: Intact to move top Canadian team to UK for RSA acquisition
2021: Intact steps up capital-raising endeavours for RSA acquisition
2021: Intact Financial reveals leadership shuffle following exec retirement
2021: Intact adds familiar industry name to its board of directors
2022: Intact Insurance named among the most trusted Canadian insurance brands
2022: Intact Financial unveils net zero sustainability plan
2022: Intact Financial, Intact Public Entities provide $1 million in climate resilience support
2022: Massive name joins Intact's board
2022: Intact Insurance EVP Debbie Coull-Cicchini discusses how insurers can invest in their broker channel

Key people

Charles Brindamour – Chief executive officer of Intact Financial
Brindamour kicked off his career with Intact in 1992, and has climbed through the company and its affiliates’ ranks both in Canada and abroad. Before becoming CEO, he was senior vice president of personal lines, executive vice president and chief operating officer, before being appointed president and CEO in January 2008.

Under Brindamour’s leadership, Intact has grown into an independent and widely-held Canadian company while making significant acquisitions, such as AXA Canada, which was the largest acquisition in the history of Canada’s P&C industry. In 2017, Brindamour expanded the company’s presence into the US.

He is a graduate of Laval University in Actuarial Sciences and an Associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society, and is also a board member of Intact Financial Corporation, the C.D. Howe Institute, Branksome Hall, the Geneva Association, and the Business Council of Canada.

Culture
Intact is committed to addressing climate change and preparing people for its impacts. In November 2018, Intact announced that it would be taking part in the United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) to tackle the issue of climate change and how it impacts the insurance industry around the world.

“The impact of climate change is one of the most important challenges facing society. Canadians from coast to coast have experienced first-hand the ravages of severe weather, because of a changing climate,” said Mandy Dennison, vice-president, social impact & ESG, Intact Financial Corporation. “Over the last few years, we have witnessed a continued increase in the severity of weather events and unpredictable weather patterns such as wildfires in the west and heavy precipitation in the east. In Canada alone, insurable losses have more than doubled every five to 10 years since the 1980s.”

The company also takes part in numerous climate-related initiatives, such as its involvement with the Canada-Wide Science Fair, where young minds can propose solutions to mitigate against the risks associated with climate change as they fight it out to win an Intact Climate Change Resilience Award.

“We all have a role to play to help Canadians adapt to the realities of climate change,” said Intact meteorologist Jonathan Gadoury. “We really see value in investing in these kids, who are very inspiring and very smart, and we feel that these are the kids who are going to be dealing with everything that has been done to our planet with regards to pollution and climate change. They were born into this context and we believe they’re the ones who are going to find solutions.”