Susan Gordon, Business Reporter
Andrew Levy, head of the Jamaica International Insurance Company.
The Jamaica International Insurance Company (JIIC), the insurance subsidiary of the GraceKennedy group, has made a foray to the eastern Caribbean island of Dominica where it hopes to gain a toehold JIIC's bosses see as a potential market for health tourism-related and other business.
"Our strategy is to diversify the risk," says Byron Leslie JIIC's manager for risk and reinsurance. "We are looking at several areas in the Caribbean once this can be done at a reasonable cost."
Potential growth
Added his boss, Andrew Levy: "We believe it's (Dominica) an island which is going to grow in this area."
Going against the grain of companies first setting themselves in the capitals, which are normally the business hubs of Caribbean countries, JIIC, has established itself in Portsmouth, Dominica's second city, where it is represented by Cabrits Agencies. Dominica's capital is Roseau.
Sales and marketing
Cabrits will exclusively sell and market JIIC's products and services.
According to Leslie, JIIC was attracted to Portsmouth, in part, because of the presence of an off-shore medical school that is attracting people from around the world.
This influx has resulted in a construction boom and a growth in the sale of motor vehicles. "It has become a hub of activities," said Leslie. "The feedback has been very good so far."
GraceKennedy has a one-third stake in a Barbados-based insurance company Trident. It is not immediately clear why it did not use that vehicle rather than JIIC, which last year had $3.81 billion in annualised premium income, for the foray into Dominica.
Leslie projected that JIIC would earn about US$200,000 in gross premium in the first full year of the Dominica operation, but could not break that down in terms of market share given the relative paucity of such information in the market.
JIIC, however, will be up against formidable regional competitors like Sagicor and Clico.
susan.gordon@gleanerjm.com
