Insurance companies talk partnership

Barbados-based Trident Insurance Company Limited and Brydens Insurance, a branch of the Trinidad and Tobago-based Tatil Insurance company are in discussions with the possibility of forming a partnership.

Tatil, which was established some 50 years ago, is a member of the ANSA McAL Group, and currently boasts a strong asset base.

The over 39-year-old Trident Insurance Company, which offers a range of products including property, motor, travel, liability and marine insurance, is owned by the Leacock Group here.

It is not yet clear what form the partnership would take or what changes there would be to the staff structure.

However, General Manager of Brydens Insurance David Alleyne confirmed to Barbados TODAY that the two companies have been in discussions “for some months now to see how we could collaborate”.

However, insisting that it was still early days, Alleyne said, “Recently we have come to an agreement that we will bring the companies together, with the shareholders of both companies deciding yes, it is something we want to do to create a stronger, focused entity,” he said.

To that end the company held initial discussions with the Financial Services Commission (FSC) but still has to formally apply and obtain regulatory approval which could take several months.

“So we are going through the process of applying and going through the process that the FSC has prescribed,” said Alleyne.

“So at this point we have not defined what the structure is going to be like, how we are going to work together. All of that is yet to come and we are waiting until we are told ‘yes, you can combine the companies’. So there is not much more I can tell you because that is where we are,” he said.

In 2007 the Jamaica-based conglomerate GraceKennedy acquired a 30 per cent stake in Trident Insurance Company, or about 900,000 shares, valued at just over US$1 million.

However, ten years later Trident announced that it had purchased back those shares, through its Leacock Group.

At that time Algernon Leacock, Chief Executive Officer of the company, said the purchase by the Leacock Group was a strategic move that would allow the company to reposition itself to enter into partnerships that were required for today’s changing market.

Trident Insurance is in the top ten of insurers in Barbados based on gross written premiums.
marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb