General Insurance Agents in Ontario are reminded that they need to have all of their mandatory continuing education credit hours in place by September 30 in order to renew their license.

ILScorp is happy to offer hundreds of hours of courses for insurance professionals in any position, so there is plenty of choice for those who still need credit hours.

To get started, visit ilscorp.com or call us at 1-800-404-2211.

West Coast Training's Todd Hochban will be holding a live CAIB II training session at BCIT’s downtown Vancouver campus. The course runs from August 24 to 28.

The exam registration deadline is August 14, for the exam on September 16,

For more information or to register for this course, please visit West Coast Training.

Can't make the Vancouver course? Don’t forget that ILScorp offers CAIB preparation courses for all four CAIBs. See our CAIB page for more information.

Industry Briefs

Manulife Financial to issue $1 billion issue in notes to boost Tier 1 capital

Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC) said it would issue $1 billion in notes to boost its Tier 1 capital.

The insurance company said the interest rate on the notes, which will be due Dec. 31, 2018, will be fixed at 7.405 per cent per year and starting on Dec. 31, 2019, and on every fifth anniversary after that, will be reset.

RBC Capital Markets and National Bank Financial are the lead underwriters.

The financing is expected to close on July 10.
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Rain has come, but drought stricken producers say it's too little too late

Some areas of Alberta and Saskatchewan are finally getting some rain, but it will probably be too little too late for many producers.

Andrew Peden, who farms east of Edmonton, says he spent the day with a crop insurance adjuster who wrote off 365 hectares of his canola crop.
Peden says his canola has germinated, but it's too late to grow a crop to maturity to get a decent harvest.

The 48-year-old farmer says he still has wheat crops, but yields this year will be relatively low.

Chad MacPherson, general manager of the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association, says rain may help cattle producers who need grass to grow in their pastures.

But he says a lack of feed crops could make it tough for livestock farmers to get enough feed for the winter and some may sell their cattle.
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Billionaire Warren Buffett gives US$1.25 billion of stock to Gates Foundation

Billionaire Warren Buffett has donated $1.25 billion in Berkshire Hathaway Inc. stock to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The gift is the third installment in Buffett's plan to transfer the majority of his wealth to the Seattle-based foundation run by the Microsoft Corp. chairman and his wife. The foundation is the world's largest with an endowment of $27.5 billion as of April 2009.

Last year, before the recession depressed Berkshire Hathaway's stock, Buffett's gift of a similar number of shares was worth $1.8 billion, or 30 per cent more.

The filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also lists donations of shares of class B stock worth $125 million to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and nearly $50 million each to the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the NoVo Foundation.

Class B shares were worth $2,924 at the close of trading July 1, the day Buffett transferred their ownership.
Omaha, Neb.-based Berkshire Hathaway owns a mix of more than 60 companies, including insurance, furniture, carpet, jewelry, restaurants and utility businesses.
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Number of EI recipients up 2.7 per cent in April

Statistics Canada says 697,000 people were on employment insurance benefits in April, up 2.7 per cent from March.

But the agency says this increase of 18,600 was the smallest jump in six months.

While the number of people receiving benefits was up in April, initial and renewal claims were down 1.7 per cent following a 2.1 decrease in March.

Since October 2008 when the current global financial crisis began to be felt in Canada, the number of regular EI beneficiaries has risen by 39.3 per cent.

The number is up in all provinces and territories, with the largest percentage growth in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Ontario.

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Industry Briefs courtesy of The Canadian Press.

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