In a way, Frank Swedlove is in the security business. Indirectly, he helps Canadians with life, health and retirement issues as president of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA), a trade organization for insurers across the country.
Before he joined the association in July 2007, Swedlove worked in the public sector for more than 30 years. When he left government that year to work in the private sector, Swedlove was convinced his public policy days were over—but that wasn’t the case.
“The way policy works is that it’s a consultative process,” he explains. “Through representing the interests of the [insurance] industry, you can also be involved in some very important public policy issues.”
For example, the CLHIA has put out a paper on saving for retirement (2010) and, more recently, announced a pooling framework to help small and medium-size businesses with high-cost drugs. By year’s end, it also plans to release a paper on long-term care needs.
“Longterm care is a real crisis issue, simply because the population is aging, but also [because] people aren’t saving to meet their long-term care needs,” Swedlove adds. “We’re trying very much to keep ahead of the game in terms of identifying public policy issues, given our experiences, so that we can make a meaningful contribution.”
Swedlove feels his skills from his government days serve him well in moving the association’s agenda forward.
“Given my background in public policy and trying to develop reasonable options to recommend to ministers, I think I contribute something to public policy from an industry perspective.”
But it’s not only his knowledge of public policy but also his approach to people that makes the difference. “Running an association is somewhat like running a small business,” Swedlove says. “You have to make sure your customers are happy, because they aren’t required to be members of the association.”
One way the soft-spoken Swedlove keeps those customers happy is through building consensus. And though the public/private divide is vast, he believes that each can learn from the other.
“There seems to be, to some extent, mistrust between public and private sector people. There could be a fair amount of benefit in having more cross-pollination of thinking between the two—and the best way of doing that would be for people to move from the public sector to the private sector and back again, and [vice versa].”
In his limited leisure time, Swedlove keeps active by working out, playing tennis and skiing. However, business travel has taken up more of his time lately, as the regulation of the insurance industry is becoming an increasingly global affair.
Before the 2008 financial crisis, he explains, many of the regulations were decided at the local, provincial and federal government levels. But with more and more international standards being set, the industry must interact internationally.
“We’re spearheading an initiative to establish an international federation of insurance associations, which will make us more effective in speaking with one voice for the insurance industry.”
In the meantime, Swedlove says the insurance industry is in a good position to make a real contribution to public policy issues.
“We are about providing security to Canadians, providing support for people who are in significant need—whether it’s a death in the family or saving for the future,” he says. “This industry has a broader social element to it.”
Brooke Smith is managing editor of Benefits Canada. brooke.smith@rci.rogers.com
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