50 years – how one company changed the face of an industry – Firstlook

50 years – how one company changed the face of an industry

On June 1, 1970, several planes flew across the Jamaican sky, dragging a banner that read “Jamaica Life – For a Better Life,” announcing to the Jamaican people the birth of a company that would revolutionize the local insurance and financial landscape.
The Jamaica Life Insurance Company was founded out of a vision to build Jamaica’s financial sector, inspired by the new wave of nationalism that followed the country’s independence in 1962. In the 1960s, Jamaica had no locally operated insurance companies, except for one small company. However, branches of approximately 17 multinational companies operated in the country, repatriating millions of dollars each year.
R. Danny Williams was an insurance agent and country manager for one of the branches, North American Life Insurance Company of Canada, when he revealed his vision for Jamaica Life to his colleagues and they set about forming the company that would eventually become Sagicor, Jamaica’s largest life and health insurance company.
Williams’ team at North American Life Insurance, along with his colleagues, embraced his dream and used their own resources — redundancy payments and pension refunds — to raise the capital needed to start the company.
“We all had the vision, mission and passion to create an insurance industry in Jamaica and, in fact, this initiative contributed to the wider creation of a local financial sector,” Williams said.
On April 6, 1970, the company held its initial public offering, offering Jamaicans the opportunity to purchase common stock at $1.00 per share. Approximately 2,500 Jamaicans fully subscribed for $2.5 million in stock. Jamaica Life Insurance Company would become the first life insurance company to be listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange.
Williams said at the launch of the IPO that the new company will help add jobs in a range of professions, including business administration, underwriting, actuarial practice, accounting, financial planning and electronic data processing.
“Public participation in the ownership of the new company will be another step in the Jamaicanisation of local financial institutions and will inspire a sense of pride among Jamaicans,” he said.
After its first six months of operation, the Jamaica Life Insurance Company reports that its new business output has significantly surpassed the best results of its predecessor, the Life Insurance Company of North America;