Today, we publish the 13th of 15 stories on the nominees for the Jamaica Observer Business Leader Corporate Award. To be considered for nomination, all companies had to be at least 50 years old, or be able to trace their roots to 1962 or before. The award presentation and announcement of the Business Leader Corporate will take place on Sunday, December 2, at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston.

IF you find yourself still thinking of Jamaica National as just another building society, that’s probably because you’re over 50 and trapped in a 1990s time warp.

In case you haven’t noticed, over the past several years this institution has been tweaking its image, and in many instances now refers to itself simply as JN Group.

There is unerring justification for this subtle shift in corporate identity, for the organisation is much more than a building society.

The JN Group is an expansive conglomeration of businesses.

Its interests range from property and life insurance underwriting, to investment management and remittances. It is also involved in real estate brokerage and development, bill payments, technology solutions, and automobile roadside assistance. The list goes on.

Mortgage provision is still the biggest business segment, and is primarily responsible for the extensive retail infrastructure in which the JN Group is so heavily invested. The group operates 33 branches islandwide with at least one in each parish.

The suite of services is offered through 16 direct subsidiaries, but some of these companies are mini groups within themselves — having multiple subsidiaries under their charge.

One example is JN Money Services Ltd, the vehicle through which the group offers money transfer services and bill payments to Jamaicans living here and abroad. This subsidiary has four companies, one each in England, USA, the Cayman Islands, and Canada that directly reports to it.

Another example is Management Control Systems Ltd, a firm that provides a long list of IT-related services to both JN and third-party clients. Beneath it are three companies for which it has direct line responsibility.

JN is a mutual organisation which theoretically means that it is owned by its thousands of savers; more specifically, it is not listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. It is not surprising therefore that its financial performance is not regularly discussed within the public domain (its accounts are extremely easily accessible) unlike comparable institutions whose shares are regularly traded and stock prices closely monitored.

Most Jamaicans, even the hundreds of thousands of customers who make regular contacts with this group, would be flabbergasted at the pace at which its balance sheet has grown over the past decade, and the scale of its current operation.

Up to March 31 this year, the JN Group had assets of $135 billion. By this measure, it is only outsized by two other financial institutions — Scotiabank and National Commercial Bank. Of the $46.9 billion in loans on the books of the group, $41.6 billion resided within the building society. Group equity stood at $24 billion of which a little more than $16 billion was attributable to the building society.

For the 12 months to March 31, the group generated total income of just over $15 billion. The building society’s contribution was $9.2 billion. Net profit was $2.07 billion for the group and $1.4 billion for the building society.

An important index of the extent to which this institution has fundamentally touched the economic lives of Jamaicans is the number of mortgages it has extended to them. In March, 23,000 loans were on the books of the building society — largely mortgages to help its customers fulfil their dreams of homeownership. The group had 36,580 borrowing accounts.

Of course, mortgage lending is an economic lever that triggers a whole series of positive cycles: it generates activities within the construction industry and keeps professionals involved in the business of housing sale and transfers very busy.

Though most people don’t bother to review the financial statements of companies with which they do business, there has been ample anecdotal evidence that JN has been on the move. It is hard for anyone not to have noticed its bright livery and logo adorning multiple buildings around townships, or not to come in contact with any of its services.

Over the past decade and a half, the group has fanned out — developing new lines of businesses either through acquisition, or by creating them from scratch to respond to market signals. At the same time, it continues to deepen its roots in its existing operations.

When JN Group decides that it wants a slice of a market, it goes after the business unremittingly, throwing its resources behind its conviction.

The case that comes easiest to mind is remittance.

Money transfer is a super-lucrative business that has been dominated by GraceKennedy (another nominee for the Business Leader Award) via its alliance with Western Union.

In 2001, JN, already with a presence in the UK and USA, threw its hat into the remittance ring. Its subsidiary, JN Money Services Ltd, became the vehicle for its involvement in this venture.

At the last count, there were 12 JN offices in the UK, 10 locations in the USA, and two each in Canada and the Cayman Islands from where members of the Jamaican diaspora can send money back home to relatives or friends for bill settlement or saving.

They can also visit scores of JN agents that are mostly located within close proximity to their communities. Last year alone, 36 new agent locations were opened: 18 in the USA, six in the UK, six in Canada, five in Jamaica, and one in the Cayman Islands.

JN recently made a qualitative leap in its remittance operations — by taking the template to Africa. The Ghana Money Transfer service, that facilitates transfers primarily between that country and England, got a boost recently when 84 locations were opened up in collaboration with the Ghanaian Agricultural Development Bank.

Many of the business lines in which JN is involved are either market leaders or have floated close to the top of their industry.

A good example is its licensed securities dealer — JN Funds Management Ltd. This subsidiary had on its books $22.9 billion in funds under management at the end of March. It also made $380 million in pre-tax profit for the year to March 31, and is the second largest primary dealer in Jamaica.

The group’s general insurance subsidiary — JN General Insurance Company — is among the country’s largest. This insurer earned $2.8 billion in gross premium income last year and contributed $440 million to its parent’s profit.

Yet another way in which this group has been impacting the Jamaican economy is by using its micro-lending arm to nurture small entrepreneurs towards success. The JN Small Business Loans Ltd that was created just over 10 years ago extended nearly 25,000 loans to micro entrepreneurs last year. The loans were valued $2.1 billion.

The latest addition to JN’s list of services is the provision of life insurance. The life insurance industry has been notably lacking in robust competitiveness ever since most of the institutions that once served this market went under — during the financial sector meltdown of the mid-1990s.

The JN group secured a licence to provide life coverage earlier this year, and will make its market debut with a product called Creditor Life — insurance coverage for its mortgagors as well as those at other building societies.

This company has come a far way. It evolved from the Westmoreland Building Society which was founded in 1874 by Reverend Henry Clarke, the great grandfather of the current chairman, Oliver Clarke. Henry served as chairman for the first 33 years of the building society’s existence. In fact, in the 138 years since its founding, this organisation has been chaired by an individual who does not have the surname Clarke for only 15 years. Oliver became chairman in 1977, and surrendered the position for five years — between 1997 and 2002.

The Jamaica National Building Society was the end result of a series of mergers that began in 1967 when Westmoreland Building Society consummated its merger with Manchester Building Society. The latter was started in 1955.

The mergers accelerated during the early 1970s with St James, Brown’s Town and the St Ann building societies joining the expanding group. In December 1970, Westmoreland Building Society gave way to Jamaica National.

St Thomas Mutual, The Jamaica Permanent Building Society and St Mary’s Benefit Building Society all came on board during the 1970s.

Jamaica National grew during the following decade. That 10-year period saw the creation of JN Fund Managers, its securities dealership and wealth management arm. Also, it opened office in the UK to bring its services closer to the Jamaican diaspora in that country.

By 1989, the building society had assets of $1 billion, and was the largest mortgage provider in the island.

But the success during the 30 years to 2000 was nothing compared to the rapid expansion that coincided with the appointment in 1999 of the company’s current General Manager (Executive Director) Earl Jarrett.

In 2000, JN Group’s assets stood at $20.5 billion. In the then succeeding 11 years it has grown to $135 billion.

The micro credit operation, as well as the remittance service innovations are but two of the many services that have helped this company to grow during this period.

These services alone have been driving tens of thousands of customers through the institution’s doors, and to its ATMs that are located all over the island.

Moses Jackson is the founder and convenor of the Jamaica Observer annual Business Leader Award programme. He may be reached at moseshbsjackson@yahoo.com