Our Story | Sagicor Beyond Gold | Our story, from then to now

1970

01

Jun

Launch of Life of Jamaica

Life of Jamaica (LOJ) began operations on June 1, 1970, as the first life insurance company in Jamaica to have public participation in its ownership. R. Danny Williams and his team of executives persuaded the North American Life Assurance Company of Canada to permit them to form a new company; Life of Jamaica Limited. Prior to June 1, 1970, the Danny Williams led team raised JA$2.5 million by public subscription of shares, created operating systems for the new company, and quickly won the confidence of the insuring public in Jamaica.

1971

05

Jan

Successful Business

After six months of operations, Life of Jamaica recorded ordinary settled business amounting to $22.9 million. For the period June to November, the company outperformed the best recorded performance for a similar period by it’s predecessor company North American Life. By seven months in operation, Life of Jamaica exceeded it’s forecdast by 25% and by the end of 1971, the company had surpassed it’s first sales objective of $100 million, recording $106 million in business.

1975

05

Jan

NALACO

In 1973 the group proposed the establishment of NALACO (Jamaica) Limited, with NALACO holding 51% of the shares. The remaining 49% was to be widely held by Jamaicans. This approach was rebuffed, but the seed had been sown. In 1974, negotiations got underway for the transfer of the Jamaican business of NALACO to LOJ; this long awaited dream became a reality in 1975. $20 million in assets and $170 million of in-force business was transferred from
the NALACO Jamaica portfolio making LOJ the second largest life insurance company in the Caribbean.

1986

03

Mar

Life of Jamaica became a $5 billion company

The company grew to $5 billion in business in 1986, despite an insustry-wide decline of 8% in life insurance sales.

01

May

LOJ Became a Member of the ICWI Group

The Insurance Company of the West Indies (ICWI) Investments Ltd. acquired controlling interest in Life of Jamaica, a transaction valued a J$24.2 million, one of the largest transcations on the Jamaica Stock Exchange at that time.

01

Aug

Revolutionary Life Insurance

Life of Jamaica introduced a revolutionary new insurance policy for persons between the ages of 25 and 70 years, which required no medical checks. The Guaranteed Protection Plan was announced on July 31, 1986 with premiums as low as $100 per annum.

1989

01

Sep

LOJ Launches into Real Estate

The 1980’s saw significant expansion into real estate for Life of Jamaica with several business, residential and tourism related development projects. In 1980 LOJ acquired 62% of the Jamaica Citizens Bank and purchased 20 acres of prime land in New Kingston. Additionally, in 1983 the construction of The Towers started, a twin of ten and twelve-storey buildings, located opposite the drive-in cinema on Dominica Drive. Additionally, LOJ acquired the 238-room Jamaica Jamaica Hotel in Runaway Bay, St. Ann in 1989 at a cost of US$16 million ( $J88 Mllion).

01

Dec

LOJ Adopts Schools

What we now know as the Sagicor Foundation Adopt A School program began in 1989 when Life of Jamaica adopted 17 schools, in a move to become integrally involved in the private sector’s contribution to education. Under the programme, each Life of Jamaica branch adopted one school while the head office adopted four (4) schools. The Adopt-A-School programme was just one initiative of the company’s Education Committee

1990

01

Feb

Worker Mortgage Fund

Life of Jamaica launched a Worker Mortgage Fund with the aim of providing affordable housing for its pension clients. This fund, launched as part of the Pooled Investment Funds, allowed LOJ to control more than 40% of the Pensions market

1993

01

May

The Year of Expansion

The year of expansion! Life of Jamaica expanded into territories outside of Jamaica in 1993, moving in to the Bahamas through it’s Cayman islands based company Global Life.

1995

01

Dec

R Danny Williams Retires

President and CEO of Life of Jamaica, R. Danny Williams retired from the post in December 1995. He remained on the board of LOJ and continued as Deputy Chairman of the ICWI Group of Companies.

1997

05

Jan

$92 Million

The Audited Financial Statements for the year end reflected a profit attributable to shareholders of $92.1 million.

1999

01

Feb

Start of the Sigma Run

The Sigma Corporate Run, a unique road-running event, designed to inspire fun, was started in 1999. Later renamed to the Sagicor Sigma Corporate Run in 2013, the annual 5k grew to become the largest road race in the Caribbean.

2000

05

Jan

FINSAC Gains Controlling Interest

At an Extraordinary General Meeting of the company, resolutions were passed for FINSAC to gain controlling interest in the company. Dennis Morrison, QC, was then appointed Chairman of the Board.

2001

10

Jan

Sagicor Family Grows

A consortium of Barbados Mutual, Life of Barbados and Colina acquired the Government’s 76% shareholding in Sagicor Life Jamaica Limited in 2001. In 2002, Barbados Mutual was incorporated as Sagicor Life Incorporated, and a holding company under the name Sagicor Financial Corporation. Life Jamaica Limited then became a member of the Sagicor Group.

2004

01

Mar

Richard Byles appointed President & CEO

Mr. Richard Byles was appointed President and CEO of Life of Jamaica in March 2004.

2008

01

Jan

Transition to Sagicor

LOJ was rebranded Sagicor Life Jamaica Limited, officially becoming part of an international corporation, operating in twenty-two (22) countries across the Caribbean, Latin America, the United Kingdom and the United States. Sagicor Life Jamaica acquired the Insurance portfolio of Blue Cross. Sagicor Financial Corporation went on to list on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on June 24,2008.

2009

30

Jan

86% of Pan Caribbean Owned

Sagicor Life Jamaica purchased an additional 33% of Pan Caribbean Financial Services shares to now owning 86% of the company.

2010

01

Feb

R Danny Williams appointed Chairman of Sagicor Life Jamaica Ltd.

2012

03

Jun

Corporate Headquarters Renamed

The Corporate Headquarters of Sagicor Group Jamaica was renamed the R. Danny Williams Building. Danny Williams hailed as ‘one of Jamaica’s most recognised business icons and philthropists with wide ranging contributions to both public and private sectors.’

01

Dec

Pan Caribbean becomes Sagicor

On December 17, 2012 Pan Caribbean Financial Services assumed its new name, Sagicor Investments, while PanCaribbeanBank became Sagicor Bank.

2014

01

Jun

Sagicor Bank Expands

Sagicor Group Jamaica acquired the RBC Royal Bank Jamaica in 2014, merging RBC with Sagicor Bank. The acquisition moved Sagicor Bank from No.6 to No. 3 in the commercial banking sector.

2017

05

Jan

R Danny Williams named Director Emeritus

Over four decades after founding Life of Jamaica, R. Danny Williams was named the Director Emeritus of Sagicor Group Jamaica. Danny Williams served as president of the company on two occasions and was also named Chairman of the Board in 2010.

01

Mar

A New Structure

A new era began for Sagicor in 2017 when founder and Director Emeritus R. Danny Williams, stepped down from his role as Chairman of Sagicor Group Jamaica. Richard Byles succeeded him as chairman of the group, leaving his role as president and ceo. Sagicor welcomed Christopher Zacca as the new leader in the dual-role position.

2018

01

Feb

Sagicor Bank leads in Innovation

Sagicor Bank revolutionized the banking sector with the creation of two products, Swype and MyCash. In partnership with Digicel and Mastercard, MyCash is a prepaid Masgtercard and mobile app designed to help clients manage their money. The Sagicor Swype machine, a mobile point-of-sale POS machine, enabled many small and medium enteprises (SMEs) to introduce cashless transactions for their businesses.

01

Jul

19 Years of Consistent Growth

Sagicor recorded another record year of profitability in 2018, with stockholders’ share of earnings climbing to $14.23 billion. The second largest for listed companies on the Jamaica Stock Exchange.

2019

01

Mar

Launch of eLife

Sagicor Life launched the Caribbean’s first online life insurance platform, eLife, allowing clients to purchase coupon life insurance policies, critical illness and investment-type policies online.

10

Jul

Sagicor acquired a stake in Advantage General

08

Aug

Launch of Sagicor Select Funds

Sagicor Investments created Jamaica’s first Listed Equity Fund on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, Sagicor Select Funds. At it’s first initial public offering, Sagicor Select Funds was oversubscribed, with over 20,000 applicants.

03

Sep

Peter Melhado appointed Chairman of Sagicor Group Jamaica.

2020

17

Feb

Sagicor Sigma Run raises $55M for charity

The 22nd staging of the Sagicor Sigma Corporate Run raised a record-breaking $55.3 million for three beneficiaries: the Bustamante Hospital for Children, the Savanna-La-Mar Hospital and the Clifton Boys Home. Over $300 million has been raised for child-related charities by the annual road race since it’s inception.