Austine Ebose was about a year ago appointed the managing director/CEO of Anchor Insurance Ltd, and within the period he has repositioned the company for greater growth and contribution to the economy. In this interview with Modestus Anaesoronye, he shared his experience, issues in the industry and where the company is headed. Excerpt:
You were one year in office as the MD/CEO of Anchor Insurance Company Limited about a month ago. How has it been since the last one year?
Thank you very much. It has been challenging and at the same time interesting. I have never been an MD before. This is my very first time. So, it’s a new page altogether. But thank God for the experience we have had in doing the job for some time now. We are coping and we have been able to consolidate and address those challenges we met on ground in moving the company forward.
Where is Anchor Insurance today and what is the company doing differently?
We have been able to improve on our premium income in the last one year by raising it to about N3.5bn from the N2.2bn it had hovered around each year before we came in. This is about 70 or 72 per cent improvement from the last premium written. This is the first time the Company will be hitting a premium income in the range of N3bn and above since it commenced business going to 30 years now. I must state that my predecessors did their very best to keep the company on the profit margin. However, when we came in, we challenged ourselves to do things differently for better results and the outcome has been a commendable one.
The first thing we did when we came in was to carry out an ICT audit to find out lagging areas in terms of IT facility. In doing that, we found out that our online real-time was not good enough, so we audited our IT system. Presently, we have improved our services particularly our motor insurance business. What we also did was to look at our human capital and carried out re-engineering and re-organization without necessarily laying off people as the only option, although those close to retirement and others who did not fit in in the fast moving train were excused from the system. In doing this, we understood that there were gaps which required that we brought in people to align with the vision we are driving.
You said there were some remarkable additions into your premium; give us an insight into your performance in the past year and what your shareholders should be expecting?
Our shareholders will be looking at receiving dividends at the end of the year. The external auditors, as I speak, are about concluding their work on our 2018 accounts. So, we cannot give exact figures yet. The audit will be completed very soon which will give accurate figures of what we did during the past year. However, like I had hinted earlier, since the existence of the company, the maximum premium the company has generated is N2.1bn or N2.2bn. This is the first time we are doing up to N3bn plus.
The focus of the market today is deepening the retail end of the market where opportunities are said to lie. What are you doing in this regard?
We have gone bullish in terms of our retail business in the area of micro-insurance policies. We have tried to create a scheme within the banking sector for all their products that have to do with credits and those facilities that are taken by bank customers. We are in discussion with so many banks that have insurance services related to them. We have also discussed with some traders’ associations and other associations we are collaborating with to see how we move our retail sales to the next level. We have also partnered with NEXIM Bank to ensure that those who are seeking for loans get the necessary insurance for it. Besides that, we have gone through the agricultural line and have had partnership agreements with some agricultural organizations and in the next quarter we will disclose what we have achieved. The third party motor insurance has always been very important to this company. We have gone into partnership with some frontline associations with critical mass and institutions of government to widen the market for the policy. We plan to replicate this across the federation. At the moment, we are heavily penetrating the North with this idea.
Today, there are rumors about a possible capital raise in the industry; do you think this is necessary at this time?
I won’t call it a rumor but anticipation, because at every given time you need to grow your business, you need to have good capital for stronger capacity. Any man that is scared of growing should not be scared of living. Capitalisation is very necessary because the more you have it, the more you can give. In insurance, the more capital you have, the more businesses you can accept, so if recapitalization is the way forward why not. But I am concerned about the way and process; we must try to do this by not rocking the system. The apathy for insurance is high, so if it’s not handled well it might affect a lot of personnel which will increase unemployment. If enough time is not given for the process and the process is not created, then it can lead to serious issues. Question on the importance of recapitalization for insurance, yes, it is very important and useful for the insurance industry. Even before the recapitalization pronouncements started coming the first time, the company itself and the board have seen the need for recapitalization. And I can tell you that the suspension of the Tier-based capitalization created apathy in the minds of ready investors. Again, we are hearing about recapitalization but nobody has told us. Yes, it is our anticipation that we will recapitalize. So, we are waiting for government to take decision. We at Anchor Insurance are already working on raising ours, so when it surfaces, we will have nothing to fear and that is the way forward.
Some people say the number of operators in the industry is too many, what is your take on this?
Even in a football pitch, there are fringe players and everybody is important. We all need each other. There is no one company in Nigeria that is big enough to take the entire risk of the industry. We have a population of about 200 million; even in America, how many insurance companies do they have with their population. We are more endangered in this country, so we need more players in this industry that will push the campaign. In terms of exposure, risk acceptance or industry expansion. As a millennial managing director, I think differently from other persons. Insurance is a specialised business; if other companies are good with third party, other insurance companies could be better in other areas. In abroad, some insurance companies concentrate on third party only.
The government needs to create more awareness for insurance. The capacity could come in terms of premium income received or profit made. If more profit is made, we will invest in ICT and awareness.
If the capital base is increased to N18 billion and there is no policy to underwrite, what type of investment will it be?.
There have been regulations and reforms in the industry in the last few years, which of them excites you most?
The ‘No Premium No cover’ rule which states that if you do not pay for premium, do not expect anything from the insurance company. But we should go further and strengthen that policy, that anyone who does not insure or does not have policy should not do any business with government, people will take it serious like the BVN policy.
Where do you see anchor in the next 5 years?
I want to see Anchor grow in leaps and bounds; I want see Anchor being recognized as one of the leading insurance companies in Nigeria; also I want to see Anchor writing a premium income of N10 billion in the next five years. We have a supportive board that are very ready to assist in terms of capitalization process, and also help open partnership with lots of agencies and financial institutions to see that Anchor is not just doing the normal traditional method of insurance, but also ready to look at investment issue in collaboration with NAICOM and other government agencies. Anchor in the next 5 years, wants to be a place where insurance works and a solution center in terms of happiness recovered as well as a modern model of insurance where things work.
