Guardian General claims top slot after merger
Published:Friday | November 8, 2013 | 12:00 AM
Guardian Group said Tuesday that the merger of two subsidiaries now known as Guardian General Insurance Limited (GGIL) has created the largest general insurer in Jamaica.
GGIL was created from the merger of West Indies Alliance Company (WIA) and newer acquisition Globe Insurance Limited and rebranded under the Guardian name at midyear.
On Tuesday, Guardian Group CEO Jeffrey Mack said GGIL's forerunners were previously No. 4 and No. 5 in the market.
"Over the last 28 months, Guardian has invested US$53 million in Jamaica, including the acquisition of Globe Insurance of Jamaica. This was strategically important for our mantra - which is that, no matter where we operate we want to be number one or number two," said Mack at GGIL's official launch in Kingston.
"Today, the new company represents 20 per cent of overall revenue and 17 per cent of assets. The additional capital invested is on top of all the retained earnings we have turned back into these companies."
Globe was a US$38-million acquisition from Lascelles deMercado and Company ahead of the spirits conglomerate's sale to Campari Group. Guardian Group's subsidiaries now employ over 800 people in Jamaica, Mack said.
GGIL's assets now stand at J$9 billion, said president of the general insurance company, Karen Bhoorasingh. The market is valued at J$54 billion.
The merged entity operates from retrofitted offices at 19 Dominica Drive, New Kingston, where Globe had its headquarters.
The Globe acquisition came with 100 workers, according to Bhoorsaingh, who said GGIL cut 20 workers under a redundancy programme executed in June with what she described as "generous" termination packages.
Mack said Guardian Group's medium-term outlook includes plans to develop offices to be used at used headquarters for the insurance conglomerate, based in Trinidad & Tobago. Its other Jamaican assets include life insurer Guardian Life Limited, which operates from Trafalgar Road, in New Kingston.
With the exception of former Globe Managing Director Evan Thwaites who, Bhoorasingh said, was a part of the Lascelles deMercado team, all executives have been retained, including Del Tolan of WIA who is now assistant vice-president of technical underwriting; Jason Goldsmith of Globe, now assistant vice-president of client services; and Sheraley Bridgeman, formerly of WIA, who is now assistant vice-president for business development.
Bhoorasingh observed that year to date, GGIL's main business lines — property and motor — were seeing an uptick in revenue, but that motor was being affected by a spike in claims.
"Our motor, similar to other companies, has seen a spike in personal-injury claims, which is affecting performance and pricing of the product," she said.
The company has also seen a 10 per cent improvement in gross premiums for the motor segment, but property revenues are flat, said the GGIL president, who still characterised the portfolio as performing well.
"Karen and her team have done a fantastic job. It is probably the best amalgamation I have been a part of," said Mack.
"The challenge before all of us is to get better at customer service. It is at the forefront of what we need to do to be the best insurance company in the island."
Bhoorsingh said that she expected that the company would spend 2014 "settling down and developing a new culture.
"Who we are," she said, "is a high-performance environment. This is what we will show to the market."
Bhoorasingh said she is projecting 10 to 12 per cent growth in revenue for 2014 with improvement primarily expected in the property and motor segments.
The last reported earnings of the original companies from which GGIL was created was J$2.4 billion in gross premiums earned by Globe in 2011 and J$3.1 billion earned by West Indies Alliance in the same year.
Total gross premiums earned across the general insurance market in 2012 amounted to J$29.8 billion.
Guardian Group serves 21 markets across the region.