During a presentation to the 24th Annual CIBC Eastern Institutional Investor Conference on Sept. 25, Definity Financial Corporation’s president and CEO, Rowan Saunders, told conference delegates that the company can be an acquirer in the marketplace.
The CEO discussed the company’s decision to acquire Travelers Canada, announced in late May 2025, a deal that Saunders says is on track and on plan.
“When we demutualized just three and a half years ago, we were the eighth largest P&C (property and casualty) company in Canada. We, organically, in the last three years grew that to the sixth largest P&C company in Canada. Now with Travelers, we become number four,” he told the group gathered. “This is a very strategic, important transaction for us.”
Expecting high retention
The company’s priorities, he says, include making the transition seamless for brokers as they’re moved from Travelers’ legacy systems to the company’s buying system, while Travelers’ commercial business is moved to Definity’s Vyne small business platform. “We expect high retention,” he says, adding that he’s personally met with the top brokers transacting business for the companies. “They have committed to retaining the business with us.”
Aiming to triple Definity’s size
The conversation also covered the synergies the company expects to realize following the acquisition’s completion, it’s plans for Sonnet which has only just begun to break even, rate trends, climate risks and the company’s 10-year strategic plan to triple Definity’s size, taking market share from five per cent to just a little over 10 per cent.
Interestingly, the president added that the company is building itself to be an acquirer in the marketplace, “which we think is going to continue to consolidate,” he told the group.
