Wawanesa rebrands newest branch WSI

Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Co. has completed its acquisition of Ontario-based Everest Insurance Company of Canada and rebranded it as WSI, expanding Wawanesa’s commercial capabilities.

WSI will operate as a distinct organization within the Wawanesa group of companies, retaining the expertise, talent and underwriting discipline that established Everest as a respected player in the speciality market, Wawanesa announced on Thursday.

Wawanesa acquired Everest Canada from Everest Group Ltd., a Delaware-based global reinsurance and insurance provider. The deal was first announced in March and received regulatory approval in September. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“It was a very competitive process,” Wawanesa president and CEO Evan Johnston said. “This was a sought-after asset and we were the successful bidder, which I’m very proud of.”

Everest Canada’s roughly 100 employees have retained their jobs at what is now WSI. The company is headquartered in Toronto, with additional offices in Montreal.

WSI delivers specialty insurance solutions across cyber, accident and health, aviation, marine, energy, construction, directors and officers liability, professional liability, property, and casualty.

The company’s name and logo may have changed, but the business model and relationships that have earned the confidence of organizations across Canada remain in place, Johnston said.

“It is a separate company with a separate management team that will run independently of Wawanesa, with the exception of us being there with our balance sheet to support their growth,” he said. “The value is in the relationships that these folks have with clients and we intend to not only maintain that but grow it significantly.”

The acquisition is expected to add approximately $305 million in annual premiums — an increase of roughly 30 per cent from Wawanesa’s current commercial lines volume, Johnston said. He described the acquisition as significant to the company’s medium- to long-term future.

“It allows us to build in an area that we hadn’t been able to play in before,” he said. “Commercial specialty business in this country is very sought after now, and now we have the opportunity to go get it.”

Everest Group Ltd. sold Everest Canada as part of its plan to exit commercial retail insurance operations and concentrate on its core reinsurance and global wholesale and specialty insurance businesses, said Jim Williamson, president and CEO.

“This transaction represents a strong outcome for both organizations, our shareholders and our colleagues,” he said in an email.

“This agreement enables us to realize compelling value and to transition our colleagues to a growth-oriented organization committed to expanding its commercial retail presence in the Canadian market.”

Wawanesa celebrated its 130th anniversary last month. It was started in 1896, some 200 kilometres west of Winnipeg in the community of Wawanesa, when 20 farmers each put in $20 to mutually insure their fire-prone wooden threshers.

Today, the company has 1.8 million policyholders, $4.1 billion in annual premiums, $12.5 billion in assets and 5,200 employees across the country.

While the company maintains a head office in Wawanesa, its national headquarters are located in downtown Winnipeg. A third of the company’s employees are based in Manitoba.

“I’ve had the benefit of having lived and worked other places around the world, and there’s something unique about the people in Manitoba that I find very inspiring,” said Johnston, who grew up in Gimli.

“It’s a humble culture. It’s a resilient culture … and the resilience definitely shines through in our people.”

Wawanesa brings “Manitoba values” to the way it does business, he added.

“We don’t see ourselves as a small Prairie mutual. We see ourselves as a national player of substance, and we happen to be a mutual that’s based in Winnipeg.”

The executive took the helm of Wawanesa on Jan. 1, 2025, and said his experience leading the company so far has been “humbling, rewarding, energizing (and) inspiring.”

Wawanesa made its first acquisition in 2017, when it purchased Western Financial Group and Western Life Assurance from Desjardins Financial Corp. for $775 millions.

The recent acquisition of Everest Canada will not be the company’s last, Johnston said.

“I have pretty significant and aggressive expectations for this company,” he said. “We have an opportunity to play a bigger role in the insurance space in this country and I want to do that.”

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca