Insurance College up for sale

Denis St. Bernard, Contributor

THE INSURANCE College of Jamaica, which recently changed its name to the College of Insurance and Professional Studies appears to be facing an uncertain future.

Following the resignation of the sixth principal of the College Mrs. Yvonne Bignal, the College is studying options for its development.

Mr. Bignal, who in the last two years brought a ray of hope to the College, has decided to return to the corporate world like her four predecessors in the last five years.

Chairman of the Jamaica Association of General Insurance Companies (JAGIC), Errol Ziadie, when asked about an impending closure, said the College should have been closed long ago, as the industry cannot afford to support such an organisation.

Ed programmes

Deputy chairman of the College Andrew Levy, said in a recent interview that the insurance industry is in the main still committed to the continuation of the education programmes provide by the College.

"However, it is clear that a decision has to be made, due to the long poor run which the College had undergone and also the fact that this carrying cost is a concern for many players in the sector," he said.

This view was not totally supported by Margaret Williams, a senior part-time lecturer at the College. Mrs. Williams believes that many insurers and brokers pay only "lip-service" to insurance education and training. This is demonstrated by the insignificant percentage of their budget which goes towards educating their staff, (staff training and development).

"The general commitment to education and training is just not there, and this is reflected by the general poor service issued to the general insuring public. There are, however, a few exceptions but unfortunately they are far and few between," she said.

Insurance consultant, Cedric E. Stephens, expressed his views less diplomatically: "The issue at stake concerns the survival of the industry - not just the College!

"The insurance industry in Jamaica and around the world, is undergoing the most profound changes in its entire history. At the same time, investors and managers both inside and outside of insurance have begun to recognise the singular importance of intellectual capital in creating and maintaining shareholder value.

"Any industry that finds itself unable to make the necessary investment to nurture the development of its employees on a continuing basis, is creating conditions for its own demise."

Another leading insurance consultant Georgia Simpson-Benaiah said, "We in this sector need to review our vision of our individual businesses and the industry as a whole, we need to be challenged to be relevant, so as to meet the growing needs of the industry and the insuring public. Insurance is here to stay and we expect that serious leaders within the industry will seek to find creative solutions to keep and maintain such a learning institution as the Insurance College.

"It is of great concern that a multi-billion dollar industry such as the insurance industry would consider closure of such an institution. This is a reflection of the general lack of commitment to development of the country", she said.

Research

This point was highlighted by Dunbar McFarlane, a couple years ago, while addressing a group of insurance graduates, he said worldwide research had shown that high primary and secondary education has enhanced the growth of high performing countries by 40 per cent between 1960 and 1985. He said the same could be achieved locally with a high quality workforce, one dedicated to service and excellence.

The Insurance College is an industry-sponsored and supported educational and professional development institution. It was established on November 14, 1979 by Education Committee of the Insurance Institute of Jamaica (IIJ). This was subsequently endorsed unanimously by representatives of the general insurance industry of Jamaica on December 12, 1979.

The College reached its peak in the early 1990s when it boasted of a student population of 1,600.

The College distinguished itself as the largest insurance-based tertiary institution in the English-speaking Caribbean. In this period the life insurance sector boasted of field agents in excess of 2,000. At that time there was a mass exodus of persons, mainly from the teaching profession, into the then lucrative insurance business.

This, together with the aggressive expansion in the general insurance sector, particularly the motor insurance sector as a result of the opening of the flood gates to car imports in the early 1990s, resulted in an increased demand for insurance personnel and hence training.

In the mid-to-latter part of the 90s, the entire situation in the insurance and financial sectors began to take a turn for the worse, with banks and insurance failures becoming the norm. This was temporarily halted by the intervention of the Government's bail-out plan (FINSAC).

Contraction

Naturally it meant that the Insurance College would be up against this contraction, as enrolment begin to fall at a rapid pace, reaching record lows. Insurers and others other players in the sector began to focus their activities on survival issues and training was not one of them.

One senior lecturer at the College suggests though that training is one critical component in business which is neglected at "crunch time," although it is the component most needed at such a time.

Another major problem facing the College is the question of ownership. No one appears to be totally clear on this issue.

The College is registered under limited guarantee and the guarantors are the College membership, which comprises a number of insurers and brokers in the industry.

Structure

However, Andrea McLennon, chairman of the Insurance Institution of Jamaica (IIJ), believes that the IIJ would also have to be considered as a partner in the ownership structure of the College, as the College was born out of the structure of the IIJ, as outlined above.

While the legal minds resolve this matter, there are a number of interested parties waiting in the wings to negotiate a deal with the College. One such party is the Institute of Management and Science (IMS). Winston Adams, chief executive officer of IMS, in a recent interview confirmed his interest. "We have already been doing a number of projects together (IMS and the College) and we will be very interested in looking at the possibility of taking over the portfolio of the College and working closely with the industry in maintaining the integrity of the programmes for the benefit of the sector", he said.

Interest was also shown by the Institute of Management and Production (IMP) and some "deep pocket" individuals in the insurance sector. It is expected that there will be a decision soon on the matter, as the industry continues to adjust to the many changes brought about by the present economic climate.

Denis St. Bernard is an insurance & marketing consultant, he is also the co-host of Risky Business, a radio programme which deals with risk & insurance matters.

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