What I learned at the 2025 LIMRA and LOMA Canada Annual Conference
On May 7th, 2025, I joined Canada’s top Life & Health insurance leaders at the LIMRA and LOMA Annual Conference, hosted at BMO’s First Canadian Place in Toronto. The conference’s theme "Change or Irrelevance" set the tone for an energizing exchange of ideas on how the industry must evolve. As GFT Canada’s newly appointed Sector Advisor for Life & Health Insurance, I was especially eager to absorb every insight... and I wasn’t disappointed!
The Insurance Protection Gap: The Elephant in the Room
Executives agreed on one thing: the insurance protection gap is a pressing issue. While the underserved middle-class market offers clear growth opportunities, legacy distribution models and lack of public understanding are standing in the way.
Three key takeaways emerged
- Educating the people makes the advisor job simpler
- Insurance influencers must be on social media, producing content to raise the general awareness.
- Better informed people might self-direct or reach for advice, reducing the need for advisors to shop for prospects.
- Having purpose helps attract talent in the insurance industry
- New generations are not keen for a career in insurance while lots of advisors are announcing their retirement, so the protection gap could get even worse.
- Building trust with claim stories, focus on the social good and the role of wellness, along with holding the power of education and life planning can tell purpose-driven workers how insurers have a real social responsibility.
- AI is finally there to help
- Advisors need to learn the new technology to keep up with customer expectations and increase sales.
- AI could replace advisors, but more likely will allow them to do more in less time while providing smarter and personalized sales and services.
Where Banking and Insurance Collide
BMO Insurance CEO Rohit Thomas emphasized the untapped synergy between banking and insurance. Financial advice is more commonly sought than insurance advice—but merging both can redefine the value proposition.
"When insurance becomes part of a wealth strategy, customers listen differently."
The key? Train bank advisors on insurance and build ecosystems that make one-stop financial planning a reality.
Beyond Projects: Continuous Transformation as a Risk Strategy
Consultants Denise Gigova and Catherine Dutt from MNP challenged attendees to think of transformation not as a one-time project, but as an ongoing discipline embedded in operations.
- Forget "end states": Change should be constant and cultural.
- Build resilience: Perpetual transformation helps insurers adapt to volatility and avoid irrelevance.
- Want to be AI-ready?: Traditional transformation is no longer the way to go.
Agentic AI: Smarter, Autonomous and Ready to Work
One of the most exciting concepts I discovered was Agentic AI, introduced by Chris Juryn of CGI. Unlike traditional automation, agentic AI can decide, act and collaborate independently.
"Think of it as an AI colleague, not just a tool."
Its potential in claims and underwriting is massive, but getting there requires vision, foundational data and the right partners.
Quick Hits: Other Must-Know Moments
- Rebranding Insurance with Passion: Desjardins’ Chantal Gagné and PPI’s Jay McMahon delivered inspiring closing remarks about reshaping public perception of the insurance sector.
- AI in Action: Equitable and Ivari leaders shared honest views on what’s working (and what’s hard) in their AI journeys, cheers to Tony Novielli from Sapiens for moderating.
- Beneficiaries as VIPs: Engaging beneficiaries like policyholders is not only ethical, it’s good business.
- The "Pizza Tracker" Challenge: No Canadian insurer has yet matched the delivery visibility of pizza apps for pending claims, underwriting, and service requests. Who’ll be first?
"The LIMRA and LOMA 2025 conference confirmed that our industry is full of opportunities, if we have the courage to embrace change. From smarter AI to cultural renewal, transformation is no longer optional. For firms like GFT, our role is to guide insurers through this shift, with empathy, purpose and the tech know-how to get it done."
