Colonial Life Insurance Company (Clico) has decided to close its St Clair branch, relocate another agency to St James and convert its Valpark office into an administrative centre. This move comes after managers and agents of those same branches were abruptly locked out of those same branches last Friday. Signs posted on the doors of the offices said they would be closed until further notice. About 70 managers and agents from the St Clair, St James and Valpark branches resigned with immediate effect on Monday, citing abuse from depositors and customers who wanted to surrender their insurance policies, and neglect from Clico’s head office in Port-of-Spain. Yesterday, Clico published a notice stating that all of its 30 offices, including Valpark and St James, are open to serve its customers and the public.

The changes in these three branches are part of Clico’s restructuring strategy which will result in a smaller more competitive insurance company. The remaining agents from these three branches will be housed at a new office that was launched yesterday at the Cyril Duprey Building, St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain. On Tuesday, Claude Musaib-Ali, managing director of Clico, said the company does not have immediate plans to lay off workers or agents, but he expected some resignations as changes in the market place and generous offers by competitors will take its toll on the company’s agency force.

Clico is one of the companies in the CL Financial Group that Government has agreed to bail out, the other two being Clico Investment Bank, which the Central Bank has wound up, and British American Insurance Company Ltd. Prior to Government agreeing to bail out those three companies, Clico was T&T’s largest insurer, with an extensive product profile that included traditional life, term live, annuities and cutting-edge sector-focused investment products that provided higher returns than competing insurers. Musaib-Ali said Clico was turning towards a more traditional business model for an insurance provider, and agents were now changing their focus from building confidence and retaining business to attracting new business and restoring Clico’s leadership position in the market. In terms of life policies and investments, Musaib-Ali said agents will work on increasing rollovers, albeit at interest rates more aligned with prevailing market conditions.

He said the agents most affected by the changes would be those dealing with the new investments and financial services products that offered higher returns from sector focus initiatives. He said Clico was a leader in this field, but expectations and returns may have to be adjusted as the company will be reviewing its investment strategy towards capital market instruments rather than industry-focused products which existed in the past. The new business model will also pursue e-commerce opportunities as an efficient and cost-effective delivery channel for insurance and pension products, Musaib-Ali said. “The new emphasis will be on health insurance policies, which will have features that focus on wellness in collaboration with the company’s Health Net clinics.”

Gerard Barnes, promotions manager, said agents will be focusing on rebuilding their business and regaining market share that would have been lost during the restructuring process. Barnes was unable to provide an estimate of Clico’s current market share. He said its market share had contracted from seven months ago and the agent salesforce has dropped from more than 600 at the start of the year to about 500.