LOCAL agents for Canada-based Heritage Education Funds International (HEFI) have been urged to “up their impact” in assisting parents to save for their children’s tertiary education.

Jason Maguire, president of HEFI, distributor of the Heritage International Scholarship Trust Plan and a subsidiary of Heritage Financial Group Ltd, told invitees at the company’s ‘2015 Blast Off Event’ on January 13 that they’re in a war.

“The battle is to help as many families as possible, and we must win,” he said.

The event celebrated the company’s 2014 results, and awards were presented to outstanding agents.

Maguire noted that while prices of various commodities are reduced from time to time, “tuition fees never seem to come down.”

He said that 2014 had been a challenging year for the Jamaican business sector due to realities like the devaluation of the Jamaican dollar, redundancies, drought, and the Chikungunya virus, all of which negatively impacted the fund’s agents and customers. Nevertheless, he praised the agents for their resilience.

Building on the theme of the event, ‘Up your impact’, Maguire assured the team that “2015 will be the best year ever” as the company would ensure exciting products and promotions to support them.

“This year Heritage celebrates 50 years of operations in Canada and 20 years in Jamaica, and we have big announcements coming including the launch of the next generation of savings products”, he said.

Adding his commendations to the local team, Lyndie Headley, HEFI (JA) agency director, revealed that a team of eight have qualified to join their colleagues in participating in the Heritage Education Funds International annual sales conference being held next month in Cancun, Mexico.

A select group will also be attending the group’s leadership conference in Toronto, Canada this month.

“We’re on a roll going into 2015 and your task is to use the tools we give you and up your impact,” Headley declared.

Heading the list of awardees for their 2014 performance were Ian Myrie, sales representative of the year, and Tessa Chang, first runner-up and sales manager of the year.

Marie Samuels was first runner-up in this category and also copped the award for best persistency.

Rookie of the year was Ainsley Ferguson and Kameka Clarke was named first runner-up.

Jamaica won the top agency award for gross team production and highest team percentage of quota.

Heritage Financial Group Ltd manages a range of education savings plans and has assets under management of over Cdn$2.18 billion. The company has regional offices in Jamaica and several other Caribbean islands, and has since 1983 enrolled more than 55,000 children and paid out over US$100m in savings and education assistance programmes.

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Jason Maguire (right), president of Heritage Education Funds International, presents Ian Myrie with the sales representative of the year award.

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Tessa Chang receives the sales manager of the year award from Jason Maguire, president of Heritage Education Funds International.

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Ainsley Ferguson (left) receives the rookie of the year award from Jason Maguire, president of Heritage Education Funds International.