Christian Laroche is stepping down as president of IDC Worldsource Insurance Network Inc.’s (IDC WIN) Quebec operations as of Jan. 31, 2023, the MGA announced on Dec. 14. Laroche will continue to assist the Quebec management team as a strategic consultant until June 30, 2023, IDC WIN adds.
The MGA emphasizes that Christian Laroche’s departure is not the result of the acquisition of IDC Worldsource by Desjardins Group. Rather, it is the result of long reflection, the outgoing president explained. “I started my discussions with IDC in early summer 2022,” Laroche says.
Laroche says he has put in place a solid management team within the IDC WIN team in Quebec to ensure continuity that he describes as promising. “I consider IDC Worldsource Insurance Network Inc. as a go-to General Agent for advisors/firms and employees across the country and I am convinced that it will remain following the acquisition by Desjardins Group,” he said.
Adrien Legault taking up the reins
In conjunction with this announcement, IDC WIN President and CEO Phil Marsillo confirmed that the new leader in Quebec will be Adrien Legault, Laroche's close associate for the past eight years. “We have appointed Adrien Legault to assume responsibility for the Quebec region as Vice President and General Manager for IDC Worldsource Insurance Network Inc. (IDC WIN), effective January 1, 2023,” Marsillo said.
Since joining IDC Quebec, Legault has served as Senior Legal Counsel. “His experience provides a continuation of leadership, which will ensure a smooth transition when he assumes his new role,” Phil Marsillo adds. Adrien Legault sits on the board of directors of the Canadian Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (CAILBA), and currently acts as its treasurer.
IDC WIN's CEO described Laroche's successor as an integral part of the MGA’s expansion efforts in Quebec. Legault was serving as Aurrea Signature's attorney, compliance officer and CFO when IDC WIN acquired the MGA in 2019. He joined Aurrea in 2014; the MGA was then operating under the name Pro Vie Insurance. Legault has worked closely with Christian Laroche for more than eight years.
Not a retreat
“I have devoted most of my time and energy over the past few years to this role and I want to enjoy more of life surrounded by my family. It is not retirement, far from it, but an orientation towards a new challenge,” Christian Laroche explains.
The president of IDC Worldsource’s Quebec operations paved the way for a future in strategic and alternative distribution. “This is what fascinates me, and I would like to be able to put my knowledge to the benefit of boards of directors, management committees and organizations,” he said in the release announcing his departure.
The outgoing president told Insurance Portal that he intends to remain involved in the industry, but not within an MGA. “I started thinking about it in 2021 and started talking about it with the IDC WIN people in summer 2022. I may not have the same passion to do this job anymore. I've been doing it too long,” says Laroche, who began his career at Mutual of Omaha in 1993 as a regional manager. He went on to co-found Pro Vie Assurances in 1999. In 2015, he became the founding president of Aurrea Signature, a banner grouping together firms including ProVie Assurances. Aurrea was acquired by Humania Assurance.
Digital projects
Christian Laroche says he now wants to focus on the trends that are transforming the distribution of life insurance. His keen interest in fintechs and insurtechs dates back some time. In 2013, he founded Pro Spect Assurances with the insurance comparison website ClicAssure. According to IDC WIN, this partnership “guaranteed an annual distribution of more than 15,000 web references in life and health insurance for his network.”
In 2019, he and his team created an online conference training platform called SCIO Formation. “SCIO Formation is an independent platform funded by IDC WIN. Of its 4,500 subscribers, 87 percent transact their business outside the IDC WIN network. This shows that people want to be on a platform that is an ecosystem,” Laroche believes.
From 2015 to 2019, as president of Aurrea Signature, he spurred the MGA’s sales growth by over 107 per cent. Since he took the helm of the Quebec division of IDC Worldsource Insurance Network Inc., sales growth has surpassed 30 per cent.