Life and benefits agencies SC Insurance and RRJ Benefits Inc. have formed a joint venture to take advantage of innovative technology tools and provide more insurance solutions to clients, the companies have announced.

Darren Abrahams, president of SC Insurance, says the move will allow them to scale faster and take advantage of some of the technology that SC has been working on.

In particular, Abraham says clients will now have access to the SC Hub: a digital administration tool to manage their benefit plans on a paperless platform, as well as AI- driven solutions to simplify the life insurance application and underwriting process.

Innovation to be shared between the two agencies

“We’ve been trying to innovate and do some things that would help stand out and enhance the experience for our end user -- whether it’s an employee benefit program or our plan administrators, all the way down to employees. On the individual side, we want to take advantage of some innovation in the life insurance space that will make it easier for some people to get over some of the hurdles and be able to obtain life insurance and other personal protection products.”

In the past, he says, there have been a number of clients on the life insurance side who also were looking for P&C solutions. Now, the two firms will be able to take advantage of the cross-over.

In 2012, RRJ Benefits Inc. was introduced, providing life insurance and group benefits solutions to clients of RRJ Insurance Group Ltd. RRJ has seven offices in Ontario and has been providing P&C solutions for clients for more than a century Life and benefits business will now all go through SC Insurance, says Abraham. RRJ’s P&C business is expected to be re-organized under the brand “KRGinsure” later this year.

New venture more “hands-on” than larger competitors

While Abraham says some of the larger MGAs, like Hub, have been taking over smaller competitors for awhile now, he believes the new venture puts RRJ and SC Insurance into an advantageous position. The new venture operates “in a more boutique, hands-on style” than its larger competitors, an approach he says will work to its benefit.

Said Abraham Baboujian, chairman and CEO of RRJ Benefits: “This venture between our organizations will serve as a catalyst to expand our offering in a strategic manner.”

Abraham says the two firms are focused on organic growth and sharing knowledge and resources.