Peter Melhado took over as the chairman of Sagicor Group Limited on Monday, July 1 after a special meeting of the group’s directors prior to the holding of the company’s annual general meeting.

Melhado replaces Richard Byles, who resigned as chairman of the conglomerate to take up the position as governor of the Bank of Jamaica.

Melhado will also be appointed director and chairman of Sagicor Life Jamaica Ltd and Sagicor Life of the Cayman Islands Ltd, subject to regulatory approvals.

He will continue as a director of Sagicor Bank Jamaica Ltd, but will no longer serve on the board of Sagicor Investments Jamaica Ltd.

Melhado has been a director with the Sagicor Group since 2004.

He is president and chief executive officer of the ICD Group Holdings Ltd, an investment holding company with interests in real estate development, general insurance, technology distribution, e-commerce, business process outsourcing, IOT, and property management.

In a candid interview with the Observer’s Sunday Finance, Melhado, who is currently off the island, shared his thoughts about his new position, former chairman Byles, the role of the Sagicor and the current state of the Jamaican economy.

Below are the questions from Sunday Finance and the responses from Melhado.

SF – Sunday Finance

PM – Peter Melhado

SF: What do you bring to the Sagicor Group?

PM: Before I answer this, allow me to put on record that I consider it an incredible privilege to hold this office. I will always work to promote the best interests of our many stakeholders along with upholding our responsibilities as a corporate citizen of Jamaica. With respect to what I bring, I have been a director of various Sagicor subsidiaries since the merger between Manufacturers Sigma and Sagicor Bank (2004) and more recently at the Group level, so I have a good feel for what makes the business tick. I also possess considerable commercial experience in other endeavours, which allows me to look at important issues from the ‘outside in’, a critical component of being an independent director. Finally, I am passionate about the company and greatly enjoy working with our extremely talented teams to increase the financial security and well-being of our customers.

SF: First order of business for you as chairman of the Sagicor Group?

PM: In a word, learning. I plan to spend time getting a better understanding of what our customers really want from each of our subsidiaries; that will involve listening to our leadership as well as to the folks we serve. Sagicor has tremendous depth in management; the board’s role is to challenge our teams on their strategies around a single hypothesis — ‘what’s best for our customers’?

SF: Will you be maintaining the chair at CGM Gallagher, WIHC and ICC?

PM: I will remain on all of my ICD-related boards but plan to resign from several others to ensure I can do my job as a full-time chief executive officer of ICD and be effective as chairman of the Sagicor Group. This will happen over the coming weeks.

SF: Your thoughts on Richard Byles, who you are succeeding as chairman of the Sagicor Group, as the governor of the BOJ?

PM: Before I get to the BOJ, I need to state that filling Richard’s shoes at Sagicor is a daunting challenge, a bit like succeeding Viv Richards in the batting order. My only consolation is that I have been able to observe him at close range both at Sagicor and Red Stripe and learn from our many interactions over the years. In regard to BOJ, I think Jamaica is extremely fortunate to attract someone with his intellect, experience and penchant for success to such an important policymaking body, particularly as it transitions to a more autonomous entity.

SF: Your thoughts on the present state of the Jamaican economy especially after the Statistical Institute’s first quarter report for 2019 and the Economic and Social Survey just released by the Planning Institute of Jamaica?

PM: I have been doing business for almost 30 years in Jamaica and hand on heart, this is the best operating environment that I have witnessed. Economic cycles will come and go but what gives me confidence is that both our political parties are committed to fiscal responsibility and have put many of the necessary policy safeguards in place to protect the future. From a Sagicor viewpoint, it is challenging to maintain margins in a low interest rate environment; it places a significant premium on innovations that improve the value proposition to our customers and efficiency, which means greater spending on technology along with further consolidation across some key business lines.

SF: What needs to be done to generate even further growth of the Jamaican economy?

PM: Following on from the previous question, much of the growth impetus must come from private investment, which takes time to gain momentum as both local and overseas firms adjust to the new conditions. In terms of policy prescriptions, I would like to see a faster pace of privatisation, expanding the scope like was done in the UK during Margaret Thatcher’s time and a greater focus on reducing the cost/time to do business, an important first step being the recent reductions in asset-based transaction costs.

SF: Your thoughts on the effect/s of the Sagicor Select Funds IPO, which opened on July 3?

PM: This is in keeping with our innovation strategy of serving customers better; in this case by offering an opportunity to efficiently participate in the market’s performance without needing to have a large pool of funds. It also represents, in my view, the increasing relevance of our stock market and the demand for more derivative products that will inevitably follow. We plan to be at the forefront of this movement.