Insurance Q&A
Growing Life
Q. Why should someone consider doing business with Newim Life and General Assurance Co. Ltd. ? Chester John “When former Trinidadian prime
minister, Eric Williams decided that foreign companies should bring their HQ’s to Trinidad, he made this decision because he knew that the decisions were all made at Head Offices. As it stands now with those companies who are in financial difficulties here in Grenada but their HQ’s are in Trinidad the question remains …Who answers the questions? Nobody in Grenada can answer those questions but in our case with Newim, we are here to answer all questions whether it be from claimants or policy holders, as our head office is here in Grenada.” providing a return on people’s investments as we have seen with other companies. Their approach was you give us $500, 000 and we will give you 10% interest on that capital but when their own investments did not return the rate which was expected they showed difficulties in paying their dividends to the stake holder/investors. So what in fact happens is something like a ponzi scheme in which you have to rely on new investors in order to pay your existing investors their promised rate of interest. The traditional ways of doing business in the insurance world have been tried and tested over centuries and that is the way Newim will progress in the fundamental belief that insurance is all about providing protection and should certainly not be about making a quick dollar. In life insurance terms we are still small but we are working steadily towards improving our market share and give a valued service to our clients and base our business on sound principles. As for our general insurance business we are probably around the third largest on the island in terms of premium income. If we can change the perception in the market place from one of distrust to one of trust then the whole market place will benefit and it will certainly make life easier for us. We are not relying on government but we will work closely with government as we know the industry better than anyone else so it is up to the industry to advise them as to the best policies they should embrace. In terms of corporate governance if a company chooses to embrace risky practices then its up to the legislation or various acts that countries have in place to either allow these kind of high risk strategies to take place or not.
Traditional Growth
Kenny John By extension, the development of the ECS (Eastern Caribbean States) economic block, You will find that with companies HQ’s in the ECS the monies that they may make tend to stay in the region as opposed to a flight of capital back to the HQ’s respective countries and less money staying within the block. Chester John When you look at the companies that
are having financial trouble here in Grenada and you look at their assets they look very impressive on paper but when you analyze these assets none are in Grenada, so therefore The Government have not been able to use these assets as a means of repaying policy holders. Most of the financial institutions based here are run by Grenadians but are not owned by Grenadians. We would like to see a situation where the people buy into their own companies. The ECCB (Eastern Caribbean Central Bank) is one of the best institutions to ever happen in the region. Grenada Co-Operative bank is a good bank and a well run bank and we need to be seeing a lot more of that kind of thing in the region – Local financial institutions run and owned by local peoples. We have some business on other islands through brokers but are yet to establish any overseas offices as yet. Putting that infrastructure and expertise together is the challenge in any organization We would like to see our firm, Newim, expand in other ECS countries. Life Insurance business is long term. The cover continues for many years and there’s a risk we carry for many years, also its not for everybody but we understand the business very well and even though I may not bear the fruits in my lifetime it will bear fruits in the long term. We could not form a Life Company without an Actuary to put together the rates that we charge and the plans of products our clients need. It is a custom product that allows for the considerations ? H \?X?[\?\?XH ?H]?H[?\?H[??[?YK?H?[?XZ?HH ?]H??H ??\? H? ?ZX?H?\?Y? H ?[ YH?]Y?H[??\?[??H\??? ?Z]?H?HX?]Z[?[?????\?\???? ????[??H?\?Y?HY?H^ X?[??H ??X?[? ]?[?[]\??\? ?\?? ????H ?H?[?[]HH ?[Z][H ] ?]H ?^\??? H \?][?? Z\?Y?][YH[? ?H]?H ???[Z]?\??[ ?\? ? \?Y? ?H ?^H L?\?? ?YZ? [?]8?&\? [??\??H ?YZ?[? ] ?[ ?[XZ[??? H \?][?????[??H?????[? \?\?? [?\??][?? ?H???Y\??? ??X?[] H?[?[][??[?[] H X?\?]? ?]\?Z[?HH ?]H[? ?[? [?H [?[??X??]H \?H? ?KL? YX\??[ \?H?[?[][??]\??H ?X?\?K H [?\??][??\? ??H ?X?\?H[??\? ?]?[?[?X??\?]H ?]H[??H H ?X\?? ?H?YYX? X\?Y\? ??]?[? H [??\?Y?[ \?H?X?????[? \? ?H\? ?X?Z]?Y[? ?X?[?[? ? ?]H?[X?\??Y? ??[H??\[?Y\?^ \?Y[??[??Y??X?[ Y\?RQ?[? HT?K??]\?[Y\?X?[?[??X?? ?Y? \?H[??[?YK [? ?H]?U?SH]?H ??H ?]\?YY ?] H ?^H?\???\[?H\????[??[? ?H]?HH ?\???X?[] H ?X\???X?? H ?\?? H?[?\?[ X?X? ??X^H?H\??\?Y ?] H[? \? ?K??H???[?? H??\[?H? ??Y?[?[??X[??[?][??[??Z[[??H??\[?H ]\?[? \?[? \? ?H?? H??][[? ?[??\?[??[Z]Y[? ??\?HY?][YK????U?SH ?X?Z]?Y Z\?X?[??H ??Y?H[??\?[??H[? ?
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