Insurance
Insurance
side underwriting can happen in house as the
level of mathematical permutations may not
be as high. professions are notoriously difficult to get
individual coverage as they have such strict
underwriting guidelines . Larger companies look at this and think Ok
the differences exist but the market is too
small.
As a result, the industry has come together
to try and make one unified insurance act for
the whole OECS territory so we can become
one territory and not remain as 8. At this
moment in time there is a regional steering The variables in a life policy are long term
and as we get older the premium gets more
expensive - If we are 25 years old the policy
will be much less than a new policy for a 40
year old for instance. WHAT DOES KENNIE JOHN LOVE ABOUT HIS JOB? We on the other hand are trying to make
ourselves the specialists of the EC life market
and as such we can often times spend upwards
of $50,000usd crafting one product specific to
our market. If you want to craft and develop a
whole suite of products then that can run you
into the millions of $sss.
committee with representatives from the
industry, regulators, The ECCB, GARFIN,
various regional ministries of Finance are
involved, aswell as Acturial consultants, and 2
local companies.”
“I happen to think this is a wonderful idea
that needs to happen. All the islands have
differences so we are trying to follow a new
model that highlights best practices. And start
new legislative guidelines that are common to
all.
“just as we have a monetary union with the
Eastern Caribbean Dollar it makes sense that
there is also mutual protection of our financial
assets” states John
“Currently we are now 2 separate companies
Antillean Life and Antillean General, which
will transfer to all the other islands once the
new Insurance act comes into effect.
“
“
The beauty of having your own insurance company
is that we can work directly with underwriters
and our very own Actuaries and craft a policy,
tailor-made to a particular group
Term Life, will only reap benefits when life
is gone and usually refers to a specific term
of time ie 25 years - Whole of life is a longer
term policy.
John believes the best aspect of having a
life insurance policy, is that it is an instant
estate, “This is the beauty in life insurance
once you take out a policy then your worth is
instantly worth that amount. So if you take
out a $500,000 life policy then your worth is
instantly worth at least that amount.
However, Life Insurance cannot be fortuitous.
So you cannot take your own life and expect
to get paid for it and certain professions are
very difficult to obtain coverage such as Pilots
and Deep Sea Divers for
instance
both
t h e s e
CHALLENGES?
“We’ve only had our Life insurance license for
10 years now, whilst most of our competitors
on the Life insurance side are like a hundred
years old - so we are definitely the new kid on
the block.”
Looking at the region, most policies are
probably based on actuarial facts from
Jamaica or Trinidad or Barbados, however we
at Antillean Group are concentrating on the
Eastern Caribbean and there are differences
and nuances in the population percentile that
can be significant. Differences can include,
average wage earnings in the EC are different
to the large islands, the levels of poverty are
different, the customs and natural inclinations
in terms of diet etc are different. We see that
most of the EC are very similar in these
aspects, so we are able to craft a product based
on our actuarial studies & research which
takes into account the specific nuances of
Eastern Caribbean peoples.
In terms of a Life Insurance company we
are still very much the baby of this particular
family.
Life Insurance is slow steady growth whereas
General Ins. premium income can vary up and
or down significantly from year to year.
Since the Clico / Baico debaucle in the
region, John observes seeing a huge drop in
the number of Life insurance policies, down
around 50% from pre debaucle levels.
“Although the confidence is low and
probably rightly so, it does represent a huge
opportunity for our company to grow” John
wisely believes .
Antillean group currently has 28 employees
and 10 agents who are essentially self
employed.
“Our continual challenge is to try to develop
relevant products for our people that is cost
effective and attractive. So there is no point
having a product that is cost prohibitive , so
we are continually trying to hone our skills in
this department to become more relevant and
to reach more people.”
ADVICE TO BUSINESSES
WHAT ARE THE MAIN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LIFE
& GENERAL? CEO Kennie John explains
“General Ins and Life ins agents don’t
necessarily mix its a different culture
in terms of how they each operate.
For instance, on the Life side
you would deal with a lot more
Actuaries whilst on the General
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“The beauty of having your own insurance
company is that we can work directly with
underwriters and our very own Actuaries
and craft a policy, tailor-made to a particular
group if we feel that it is an attractive
proposition.
“Keep good records of stock etc so that in the
event of a disaster your losses can be proved
easily without necessarily the insurers having
to use the services of a forensic accountant to
prove your actual losses;
www.businessgrenada.com
that many houses and properties were
massively under insured.
“Market value and rebuild costs can be
widely different so we try to advise our clients
of all these potential pitfalls and urge them to
take regular valuations.
John is a strong believer in encouraging
consumers to maximize their savings when it
comes to Insurance
“One way of saving significantly is to bundle
all your insurance products with us
Insure Car, Home, Business, Life, Health all
with us and you will see significant savings by
bundling all of them together.
“
scholarships islandwide. .. No one takes care of
you like your own” states Kennie
“We are proud to be a Grenadian company
that can benefit Grenadians.
Grenada, as small as it is, currently has 26
Insurance Companies registered with total
assets amounting to $358.2 million and 46
registered pension plans amounting to approx
$203 million. For a small island state this
seems to be a very high amount so we asked
Kennie his thoughts on the subject.
WHY ARE THERE SO MANY INSURANCE
COMPANIES IN GRENADA?
Kennie John is of the opinion “Under British
Keep good records of stock etc so that in the
event of a disaster your losses can be proved
easily without necessarily the insurers having to
use the services of a forensic accountant
to prove your actual losses
PHILOSOPHY & COPRPORATE CITIZENSHIP
“I support the strengthening of our local
institutions.” states John “and whilst the major
Insurance companies worldwide make their
money from investments not from premiums,
the Law here is quite specific as to what and
where we can invest in. Insurance Companies,
in Grenada, are mainly restricted to investing
in Government Bonds & Real Estate.”
“As a Local Company we reinvest into the local
economy and hence help build the country as
we see other companies do in Trinidad and
Jamaica for instance. Foreign companies have
to send their monies back to their respective
countries where their headquarters are
domiciled. Our money is reinvested back into
the Grenadian economy,
Make sure your coverage is what you want,
If you are expecting a new for old policy then
you should make sure that is the policy you are
paying for. As an example an A/C unit may be
insured but also it has annual depreciation, so
with depreciation in the event of a total failure
after a few years you will not be fully covered
for a new unit, so companies and businesses
have to be cogniscent of these facts and adjust
their policies to suit. “The opportunities ahead are tremendous as
we look at the Eastern Caribbean as our market
and not just Grenada.
“Another aspect that we saw after hurricane
Ivan passed our shores back in 2004, was “As part of our corporate citizenship we
support Cricket, Football and offer a number of
“We pride ourselves in helping our people
achieve UK exams & qualifications relevant to
the industry.
“We have adopted 2 schools in Grenada one in
St Marks where I was born and one in L’esterre,
Carriacou where my father was born.
www.businessgrenada.com
“
judged as a region, we operate as 8 individual
states with regard to the various Insurance
acts that are in place in the Eastern Caribbean.
rule, Grenada was the seat of parliament for the
Windward Islands including Tobago.
“The 2 oldest schools in the OECS are The
St Joseph’s Convent and The Grenada Boys
Secondary School (GBSS).
“Many of the leaders throughout the region
from a specific era and generation, would have
attended schools here because we offered high
school and 6th form services not available
on their own islands. So we have a number
of institutional and historic legacies here in
Grenada that make it such a strategic location.
“We have a very high rate of savings here in
Grenada and also the highest land ownership
rate per capita in the Western Hemisphere.
“The standard of living in Grenada is
relatively good compared to other islands. We
had and still have a large middle class with a
lot of families in various businesses so there
is property and ownership of vehicles etc and
insurable items and goods.
“When you add up this combination of
positive factors, you can see why it attracted
a lot of Life & General insurance companies,
thats one of the main reasons why we have
more insurance companies here than any
other Eastern Caribbean country”, according
to Kennie John CEO Antillean Group. BG
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