Dennise Williams, Staff Reporter
CEO of GraceKennedy, Douglas Orane (left) and chief financial officer, Don Wehby. - IAN ALLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
GRACEKENNEDY Limited and Guardian Life will join forces to form an insurance company later this year. Slated to come on stream by July 1, the new entity will be fifty-fifty owned by Grace and Guardian Life.
"In terms of the partnership, we are actually on track to launch by end of June," said chief financial officer of GraceKennedy, Don Wehby while speaking at a recent investor's forum held at Grace's Harbour Street headquarters.
According to Mr. Wehby, the partnership is one of the many avenues the company has taken to diversify and strengthen its revenue base.
The project will be spearheaded by corporate planner at GraceKennedy, Robert Plummer. "We are well advanced in the development of the plans for the project. We are launching on July 1 in the marketplace. As you know, there are two major competitors in the health insurance market place (Blue Cross and Life of Jamaica) so there is no way to keep secrets," said Mr. Plummer.
Last year when the joint venture plans were first announced, it was also revealed that the new unnamed company would be housed in the former Grimax Advertising Agency building in New Kingston. There are also plans to expand to the Turks & Caicos Islands, Cayman Islands and Belize.
Mr. Plummer continued, "So while the soft launch is in July, by June 1st we will have by then been in the marketplace already. We will be able to take policies and operate a full service health insurance company.
SOFT LAUNCH JULY 1
"We already have key staffing and key technology and are well in advance in readiness to take customers by June 1 and do the soft launch by July 1. We are involved in contacting brokers and all the behind the scenes work involved to prepare the company in executing the entire marketing program."
Despite the various income streams that GraceKennedy develops, according to Mr. Wehby, insurance is one of the areas that the company will look to for profitablity and cash generation for the group. "Insurance [will be] one of the key drivers of profitability for the GraceKennedy Group going forward."
GraceKennedy recently listed on the Eastern Caribbean stock exchange, making it the only Jamaican company listed on all four Caribbean stock exchanges.
