By Andrew Green, Staff ReporterSHAREHOLDERS IN the newly merged Life of Jamaica Limited (LoJ) voted yesterday to change the name of the company to Sagicor Life of Jamaica. The name change becomes effective when the Registrar of Companies certifies the change. The decision to change the company brand was made at its annual general meeting held at the LoJ auditorium in New Kingston yesterday.
"The company's name is its most visible representation of its brand," said Mike Fraser LoJ chief marketing officer and deputy chief executive officer. "The new brand will allow us to reposition LoJ as a financial services institution with the credibility to provide financial advice."
Life of Jamaica Ltd was formed on June 1, 1970 and was the first Jamaican-owned life insurance company and the first insurance company to be listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. Mr. Danny Williams, former President and CEO of LoJ said the intention is that the rebranded LoJ will have a Caribbean identity and will offer a full range of financial services to customers.
"I recognise and understand the sentiment which goes with the name," said Arthur Bethell, LoJ Chairman. "We are not going to come in one morning and (make changes so that) the name life of Jamaica does not exist."
Mr. Bethell is also a director of the Sagicor Financial Corporation, the Barbados based LoJ parent company. He is the former president and chief executive officer of The Mutual Group and helped engineer that change of that group into Sagicor.
TIMELY CHANGE
The name change will be carried out "over a period of time," Mr. Bethell said. Experience in Jamaica and elsewhere had shown that rebranding exercises could be done successfully.
"As the person who put forward the name Life of Jamaica in the first instance, at the though of changing, it was oh no, no, no," said LoJ director, R. Danvers Williams. "Plus, the LoJ brand has become so strong in Jamaica."
One of the LoJ founders, Mr. Williams moved the resolution to change of name to Sagicor Life of Jamaica. "You have to live in the real world," he said. The company got into financial trouble and needed outside assistance, which Sagicor ultimately provided."
As part of a Caribbean group of companies now, "it is important that we have one name going across the region," Mr. Williams said. "It will only be a matter of time before people come to accept Sagicor Life of Jamaica and then eventually it will become Sagicor because you can rebrand a company."
DISCUSSIONS ADVANCED
Life of Jamaica completed a merger with Island Life in 2003, leaving it with an administrative staff of 550 and a sales force of 275 agents. It is now in discussion with First Life to purchase the insurance business of First Life as well as First Life's ownership interest in Pan Caribbean Financial Services Ltd.
The First Life transaction will consolidate LoJ's insurance business in Jamaica and give it a substantial stake in a major banking entity.
Discussions are "quite advanced," Mr. Bethell said. But both parties have agreed to make no public disclosures until an agreement has been concluded.
An agreement on the issue is 'imminent'," said Mr. Richard Byles, the president and chief executive officer of LoJ. He said it would come well before the end of the year.
The Group recorded net profits of $1.2 billion for its financial year ended December 31, 2003, 41 per cent higher than the level in the previous year.
The acquisition of Island Life made a major contribution to the growth in the balance sheet, Mr. Bethell said. The asset base, including Segregated Funds managed on behalf of policyholders grew by 50 per cent to $16.4 billion. Stockholders equity increased to $3.8 billion, up from $1.4 billion. Total assets under management at the end of the year were $36.4 billion, up from $25 billion at December 2002.
Retiring directors Patricia Downes-Grant, Arthur Bethell and Dodridge Miller were re-elected along with Richard Byles, who had been appointed by the board during the year.
