The new and fortified competition in the insurance sector is not too big a worry for market leader Sagicor Life, according to the leadership of the parent company Sagicor Group Jamaica.
In fact, it is the rival operators that should be concerned about how to compete, said President & CEO Christopher Zacca, in a projection of strength at the company’s annual general meeting on Monday.
The insurance market, both the life and general segments, is undergoing fundamental changes with the entry of a new life insurer; and the takeover of regional insurance conglomerate by Jamaican banking conglomerate NCB Financial Group, under which it also becomes a much larger player in insurance in its home market and the Caribbean.
Sagicor Group, through its investment arm, is also growing its operation as the lead partner in a consortium that is acquiring general insurer Advantage General from an NCB subsidiary, and is taking over the insurance business of Scotiabank Jamaica, under a wider regional transaction led by overseas parent operations of the companies.
The Jamaican insurance giant expects increased competition from insurance rival Guardian Holdings Limited, GHL, in which NCB Financial increased its stake to 62 per cent in a takeover in May. The Canopy Insurance joint venture between two powerful partners, GraceKennedy and Musson Jamaica, was announced around the same time.
Still, Zacca ispredicting minimal disruption to the growth of its revenues arising from increased competition in the life insurance market, but company executives declined to provide shareholders with a growth forecast for the remainder of the year.
“I am not going to give a forward-looking statement or a range, but we do not look back, we look forward,” Zacca declared at the meeting.
Zacca has led Sagicor Group for just over two years. The company is currently going through yet another transition at the board level, with the appointment of Peter Melhado from among its ranks as chairman, effective Tuesday July 2. Melhado replaced Richard Byles, who will officially become the next governor of the Bank of Jamaica on August 17.
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