IN its continued bid to build on the strength of its subsidiaries Sagicor Group Jamaica Limited (SJ) will be executing the key digital integration of Advantage General Insurance Company Limited (AGIC) to enhance the experience across the various business lines.

This was revealed at Sagicor Group’s 11th annual general meeting (AGM) on Friday by Group President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Christopher Zacca. AGIC has featured a lot more within the last year, along with Sagicor Life Jamaica Limited (SLJ), in terms of marketing and promotions of the insurance services offered to the public. As part of the 2025 milestones for Sagicor Group’s digital transformation the digital integration of AGIC should create a more seamless experience across the various group business lines. This is on top of other major initiatives like an all-in-one client portal and upgrade to Sagicor Group’s core systems.

“For 2025, AGIC’s plan is to continue its journey of growing its digital footprint across all platforms, allowing seamless and secure client interactions with its information systems. AGIC is anticipated to continue to grow in the commercial and personal lines space, thereby furthering its growth in insurance premiums,” stated Sagicor Group Jamaica’s 2024 annual report.

AGIC is the general insurance arm of Sagicor Group Jamaica, with the business celebrating its 61st anniversary on May 6 under current CEO Dave Morrison. Sagicor Group Jamaica acquired a 60 per cent stake in AGIC in September 2019, for $4.14 billion, from NCB Capital Markets Limited. Sagicor Group is the third major AGIC owner in the last two decades, after Neville Blythe’s UGI Group Limited sold the business in 2006.

AGIC was able to improve its insurance revenue by 18 per cent to a record $9.81 billion during 2024, but the insurance service result contracted by 83 per cent from $728.43 million to $121.37 million. That was due to the insurance service expense spiking 51 per cent, from $4.68 billion to $7.09 billion, as a result of higher claims on the motor portfolio, claims related to Hurricane Beryl, and two major fires during Q4 2024.

Although AGIC was able to improve its net investment income by 27 per cent to $594.3 million and had a six per cent cut in operating expenses to $480.67 million, AGIC’s profit before tax was down 76 per cent from $595.99 million to $140.43 million. Net profit declined 80 per cent from $415.34 million to $83.80 million.

Despite the decline in 2024’s earnings AGIC was able to launch several new features on its digital platforms during 2024 as it seeks to make its product, services and interactions with customers a lot more seamless.

AGIC’s asset base grew 14 per cent to $12.58 billion, which was largely driven by the increase in reinsurance contract assets to $2.59 billion. The investment securities portfolio five per cent to $6.82 billion while cash ended the period at $240.18 million. Total liabilities grew 29 per cent to $8.73 billion, with the bulk of this increase attributed to the insurance contract liabilities which rose 31 per cent to $7.55 billion. Shareholders’ equity decreased nine per cent from $4.26 billion to $3.86 billion due to the decline in fair value reserves related pension benefits and the payment of a $370-million dividend during the fourth quarter. Sagicor Group received $222 million while Fundy Bay Equity Holdings Limited (FBEH) and Resource in Motion Limited collected $125.8 million and $22.2 million, respectively.

Zacca confirmed that FBEH, a 34 per cent owner in AGIC, is now owned by the Sagicor Sigma unit trusts which include Sigma Bond, Sigma Real Growth and Sigma Income. Former 17-year AGIC CEO Mark Thompson was stated to have been connected with FBEH at the time of the AGIC acquisition in September 2019.

When someone asked about Sagicor Group Jamaica rebranding AGIC to Sagicor General, Zacca responded, “In terms of our relationship with Sagicor General across the Caribbean, it is part of this closer collaboration I spoke of which will redound to the benefit of our businesses here, and Advantage General is clearly well-positioned to align with Sagicor General Caribbean. Our policy is that all of our subsidiaries should have Sagicor associated with them, but we’re not ready to make the formal announcement at this time.”

Sagicor Group Jamaica initially recognised $1.06 billion in goodwill related to the acquisition of AGIC. Sagicor Group had a $500-million impairment on its AGIC goodwill in 2021, with $558.71 million remaining. A rebranding of AGIC could result in an impairment of the remaining goodwill value.

Sagicor Group Jamaica is a 49.11 subsidiary of Sagicor Financial Company Limited (SFC). SFC owns 99.3 per cent of Sagicor General Insurance Inc, which is based in Barbados, along with 100 per cent of Sagicor General Insurance Trinidad & Tobago Limited. A rebrand of AGIC would match the overarching group theme of most subsidiaries having the Sagicor brand, such as there being a Sagicor Bank subsidiary in Barbados and a Sagicor Investments subsidiary in Trinidad & Tobago.