La Capitale (company)

La Capitale Financial Group Inc. was a Canadian business that provided insurance products and financial services in Quebec, Canada.[2] The company was headquartered in Quebec City and mainly active in Quebec, though extending its services into Ontario since 2008.[3] With more than 900 institutions and 600,000 members of staff, La Capitale General Insurance ranked among the largest insurers in Quebec.[4]

La Capitale Financial Group Inc.
Founded1940
Defunct2020
FateMerged with SSQ Insurance
SuccessorBeneva
Headquarters
Quebec City, Quebec
,
Canada
Websitelacapitale.com
Beneva
IndustryMutual insurance and financial services
Predecessor
Founded
  • mid-2020 (established)
  • 2022 (effective)[1]
Headquarters
Quebec City, Quebec
,
Canada
Key people
  • Jean-François Chalifoux, President and CEO
  • Jean St-Gelais, Board chair
Total assetsCA$25 billion (2020)
Number of employees
5,000+ (2020)
Websitebeneva.ca

Beneva is a Canadian mutual insurance company that was established in mid-2020 by the merging of La Capitale and SSQ Insurance.[5][6] As of 2020, the preceding companies are in a transition period, with La Capitale transferring by 2022 and SSQ becoming Beneva in 2023.[1]

History of La Capitale

La Capitale has it origins in a mutual fund that was formed in 1940 by state employees from Parliament Hill in Quebec who wanted to establish a more secure way to pay for their funeral expenses.[2][7] The official name for this group was la Mutuelle des Employés civils.[8] Still operating under la Mutuelle des employés civils, in 1947, the organization issued its first life insurance policies and opened its first office in Montreal, Quebec.

Initially, la Mutuelle des employés civils only offered insurance products for state employees.[7] However, in 1954, the Quebec Liquor Commission became the first business to hold a group insurance contract with the organization.

In 1976, the first subsidiary of la Mutuelle des employés civils, La Capitale General Insurance, was formed. The creation of La Capitale General Insurance also signified the organization's move from only offering insurance products to state employees to offering their products to everyone.[7]

Formation

Beginning with La Capitale General Insurance, the mutual company continued to form new subsidiaries, including La Capitale MFQ Real Estate Management in 1981, which is responsible for acquisitions and property management, La Capitale Insurance and Financial Services in 1989, and La Capitale Civil Service Mutual and La Capitale Civil Service Insurer in 1991, among others. In 1989, La Capitale Financial Group Inc. was formed to serve as a holding company overseeing all of La Capitale's various subsidiaries.[9] Although a holding company, La Capitale Financial Group Inc. was still controlled by la Mutuelle des employés civils.

In 2000, La Capitale subsidiaries underwent a brand change and officially adopted the La Capitale banner.

Expansion of headquarters

From 1962 to 2013, La Capitale's head office was located in Parliament Hill in Quebec City, at the corner of Saint-Amable and De La Chevrotière. In 2013, the construction of La Capitale's new headquarters building, also located in Parliament Hill in Quebec City, was completed.[10] The inauguration of La Capitale's new headquarters was attended by Premier Pauline Marois, the Minister of Finance and Economy, Nicolas Marceau, and Quebec City's mayor, Régis Labeaume.[10] The La Capitale building would serve as the new head offices for La Capitale and all of its subsidiaries. As of 2013, La Capitale employs approximately 3,000 staff members at this head office in Quebec.[11]

Expansion into Ontario

La Capitale and its various subsidiaries continued to experience growth in the early 2000s, with a significant acquisition completed in 2004, when La Capitale purchased L'Unique General Insurance for $48 million.[2] By 2007, La Capitale had become the fourth-largest property and casualty insurer in Quebec[12]

In 2008, La Capitale saw that it was facing a limited and in many ways saturated insurance market in Quebec. In 2009, intent on finding new revenue streams, the company initiated a project to enter the Ontario market for the first time.[3] The company would do business in Ontario under its same La Capitale General Insurance brand name and would remain headquartered in Quebec City.[3]

The 2009 growth project was executed in two fronts.[13] The first part would be to develop La Capitale's business in property and casualty insurance in Ontario. The second part would be to strengthen the presence of L'Unique General Insurance in Quebec.[13]

As part of La Capitale's move into Ontario, in 2008, La Capitale General Insurance acquired York Fire & Casualty Insurance Co., an insurance company providing automobile and property insurance in Ontario and Alberta.[14] York Fire & Casualty was purchased from Kingsway Financial Services Inc.

Prior to this acquisition, in 2006, La Capitale Civil Service Insurer Inc. acquired Penncorp Life Insurance Co., a specialty accident and disability insurance firm located in Mississauga, Ontario.[14] In 2005, La Capitale Financial Group acquired the AGA Financial Group, a company active outside of Quebec.[9]

As of 2016, La Capitale has more than doubled its business done outside of Quebec.[15]

Company structure

La Capitale was organized into different divisions, each responsible for a separate line of business.

  • La Capitale Civil Service Insurer: offers financial products to Quebec's public service staff.[9]
  • La Capitale General Insurance: is a subsidiary of La Capitale that has provided property and casualty insurance for over seventy years.[16]
  • La Capitale Insurance and Financial Services: is a subsidiary of La Capitale that provides group insurance products to the private and public sectors, in addition to individual products to individuals outside the public sector.[17] La Capitale Insurance and Financial Services owned AGA Financial Group, which it sold off in 2013[18]
  • L'Unique General Insurance: is a property and casualty insurance provider that was acquired by La Capitale in 2004. As a subsidiary of La Capitale General Insurance, L'Unique General Insurance manages a network of more than 300 independent insurance brokerage firms in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.[2][19]
  • La Capitale Financial Services: is a multidisciplinary financial services firm which is primarily aimed at civil service employees in Quebec.
  • Unica Insurance: originally operating as York Fire & Casualty Insurance Company, the firm changed its name to Unica Insurance Incorporated in 2012.[20] The firm was acquired by La Capitale General Insurance in 2008.[20] As an Ontario subsidiary of La Capitale, Unica offers home and auto insurance products to individuals, as well as commercial insurance.
  • La Capitale Financial Security: formerly Penncorp, this Ontario subsidiary of La Capitale specializes in individual accident and disability insurance in Canada[21][22]
  • La Capitale MFQ Real Estate Management: manages and develops the Quebec real estate holdings of La Capitale Civil Service Insurer.

References
  1. "Frequently Asked Questions – Beneva".
  2. Claude Turcotte (18 November 2006). "Portrait - La Capitale, 600 000 clients plus tard". Le Devoir (in French). Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  3. "La Capitale assurances lorgne vers l'Ontario - Économie - Québec Hebdo". www.quebechebdo.com. Archived from the original on 2016-08-28. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  4. "La Capitale General Insurance names new president & CEO - Article - investmentexecutive.com". investmentexecutive.com. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  5. "Beneva posts excellent first-time financial results | SSQ Insurance". ssq.ca. Retrieved 2021-10-04.
  6. Meckbach, Greg (December 3, 2020). "How La Capitale and SSQ came up with its post-merger brand name". Canadian Underwriter. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  7. "La Capitale: 70 ans et un avenir... assuré | Isabelle Houde | Actualité économique" (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  8. Média, Québecor. "Les 10 coopératives les plus florissantes du Québec". Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  9. "La Capitale veut croître par stratégie de niches". 2007-09-06. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  10. Finances et Investissement, Transcontinental Médias (20 March 2013). "Finance et investissement - La Capitale inaugure son nouveau siège social". www.finance-investissement.com. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  11. "Les compagnies d'assurance - Un moteur économique à la " Puissance Onze " à Québec et à Lévis - PRESTIGE". www.magazineprestige.com. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  12. Finances et Investissement, Transcontinental Médias. "Finance et investissement - L'homme fort de la Capitale assurances générales prend sa retraite". www.finance-investissement.com. Archived from the original on 2016-08-12. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  13. "La Capitale s'attaquera à l'Ontario en 2009". 2008-06-29. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  14. "La Capitale Acquires York Fire & Casualty Insurance Co. | Canadian Insurance". www.citopbroker.com. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  15. Finances et Investissement, Transcontinental Médias (April 2016). "Finance et investissement - Assureurs en mode croissance". www.finance-investissement.com. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  16. "LesAffaires.com Profil de l'entreprise: La Capitale assurances générales". www.lesaffaires.com. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  17. "SecuriGlobe Bought by La Capitale But Will Remain Independent". 2014-06-18. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  18. Finances et Investissement, Transcontinental Médias (15 November 2013). "Finance et investissement - La Capitale cède AGA". www.finance-investissement.com. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  19. "Mario Cusson dirigera L'Unique Assurances générales". www.lesaffaires.com. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  20. "York Fire & Casualty Insurance Company now Unica Insurance". 31 December 2011. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  21. "Penncorp becomes La Capitale Financial Security - Article - investmentexecutive.com". investmentexecutive.com. 17 December 2013. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  22. Finances et Investissement, Transcontinental Médias (14 April 2016). "Finance et investissement - René Rouleau : l'humain avant les chiffres". www.finance-investissement.com. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
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