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Caribbean Assurance Brokers Limited registered net profit of $6.4 million for the first six months of 2025, marking a sharp turnaround from the prior year’s losses.
Describing 2024 as a tough year for the insurance brokerage, in which it racked up losses of $98 million, Director Barrington Whyte said the poor performance was expected as the company had invested heavily in technology and human resources in order to reap rewards in the future.
At Caribbean Assurance’s annual general meeting on Wednesday, Whyte reported that half-year profit for the January-June 2025 period stood in contrast to losses of $12.1 million for the comparative period in 2024.
“We are now beginning to see some of the fruits of the investment that was made in 2024,” Whyte reported to shareholders.
Operating expenses for 2024 was $631 million, a significant increase of $217 million above the $413 million in 2023. This largely accounted for the $98-million loss for the year, following a profit of $123 million in 2023.
“That money was spent as an investment in the capacity-building … $146 million of that increase went into increasing our sales force capacity by introducing into the organisation some top performers and coaches to build out a sales force and a capacity that will serve to generate income in the future,” Whyte said.
The company will continue to investment in technology to lower cost and improve customer experience, he said.
Caribbean Assurance Chairman Raymond Walker said the company tries to differentiate itself from its competitors through innovation and superior customer service, saying its rivals in the business had advantages such as either “a great block of captive business or were part of a group of companies” or “had political connections, which certainly assisted them during tenders”.
He noted that Caribbean Assurance was also looking to drive business in the international health market, which, in Jamaica, remained largely untapped.
“Insofar as international health is concerned, we are looking at a market value of over US$120 million. We are the number one in terms of international health, yet our premium amount is really US$6 million. If you look at the volume of that untapped market, the opportunity out there is just tremendous,” Walker said.
He added that buildout of the company’s technology infrastructure would position it to take advantage of business throughout the Caribbean, remotely.
“We are making sure that in terms of our regional thrust, we have the type of technology infrastructure to ensure that we can underwrite business without having to go into any of these territories and set up brick and mortar…we will stay right here and be able to do the necessary business digitally, without having to be there physically,” said Walker, who is also the company’s founder.
Incorporated in 2005, Caribbean Assurance is a broker for life, health and personal accident insurance, general insurance, international life and travel, employee benefits, and credit union-related products.
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