La Capitale/SSQ Insurance joins ICMIF
The largest mutual insurance company in Canada formed as a result of the merger of equals of La Capitale and SSQ Insurance joined the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF), the only organization representing cooperative and mutual insurers worldwide.
“As the largest mutual insurer in the country, our company is leading the mutualist and cooperative movement in Canada. Through ICMIF, we will be joining a network of the world’s largest mutuals, which we are convinced will be an asset for our organization. The knowledge, skills and experience of federation members will contribute to strengthening our competitiveness, especially in terms of sustainability, innovation and emerging risks. Above all, we are pleased to be able to promote the mutualist and cooperative model to our own members and customers.” – Jean-François Chalifoux, President and Chief Executive Officer of La Capitale/SSQ Insurance.
“On behalf of ICMIF, our Board of Directors and our 200 member organizations, I am delighted to extend my warmest congratulations to La Capitale and SSQ Insurance on their official announcement of their merger of equals, thereby creating the largest mutual insurance company in Canada with over 3.5 million members and clients. We are delighted that the newly formed organization has decided to join ICMIF and our global network of member-owned insurers. I look forward to working with Jean-François Chalifoux, the new President and Chief Executive Officer, and Jean St-Gelais, Chair of the Board of Directors.” – Shaun Tarbuck, Chief Executive of ICMIF.
According to ICMIF’s Global Mutual Market Share 10 data published in 2019, the mutual and cooperative insurance market was the fastest-growing part of the global insurance industry in the 10-year period since the global financial crisis with growth in premium income of 30% compared to 17% growth in the total global insurance industry. The global market share of mutual/cooperative insurers is 26.7%, and 922 million people were insured members/policyholders of mutual/cooperative insurers at the time of the report’s publication.
Additional qualitative research by ICMIF suggests that this positive performance is linked to consumers’ preference for providers that can demonstrate characteristics most commonly associated with cooperatives and mutuals: trustworthiness, security and service excellence.
The merger of La Capitale and SSQ Insurance was announced last January. After completing a number of regulatory steps, the merger of equals was made official on July 3, 2020. The name of the new company will be unveiled this fall as the gradual integration of both companies continues.
