Intact Financial Corporation has changed a lot since Louis Gagnon took charge of Canadian operations in 2007. Back then, Intact was a subsidiary of Dutch giant ING.
Gagnon points out that Intact Financial Corporation was created following the major financial crisis of 2008. ING had decided to divest its Canadian property and casualty insurance subsidiary, paving the way for the creation of Canada’s largest P&C insurer.
One of the elements that makes Intact stand out, Gagnon says, is its ability to make decisions in places where it operates in Canada or elsewhere in the world. This ability will remain, he told Insurance Journal.
“The very foundation of our company is staying the same, even though it has definitely progressed and modernized over the years. We have always managed the firm by keeping it very close to its markets.” Managers have all the tools they need to respond to the reality of their market, in Canada or in the United States, he adds.
In parallel, proximity with brokers lets Intact’s managers react quickly, if necessary, he adds. “This proximity is something we never lost, since the Intact brand was launched in 2009,” he says.
According to Gagnon, another factor behind Intact’s success is its massive technology expenditures. The company is still investing heavily in this area, particularly in artificial intelligence, he says. “Our processes are hard to beat right now. We want to continue to be at the forefront, to keep them as the pillars of our success.”
This article is a Magazine Supplement for the February issue of the Insurance Journal.
