– Zarc Group says it is keeping up with Guyana’s growth

“THERE is an increase in demand in the market,” said Guyanese entrepreneur Ryan Pereira, as he gave reasons for his company’s decision to merge with a Trinidad company to enter the insurance market.

Pereira is the Chairman of Zarc Group of Companies, which operates in the gold, oil and gas, real estate, and business development sectors. Pereira is also the architect of numerous partnerships with international companies, including that with Israeli oil and gas company, Ratio Oil, which has won an exploration licence for the Kaieteur Block offshore Guyana.

The businessman believes that Guyana’s development trajectory calls for the creation of new businesses and services that can meet the needs of the market, across all sectors.
“… and our team has the business development experience and was confident that we could help to meet that demand,” Pereira said.

To this end, he has partnered with CIC Insurance Brokers Limited, said to be Trinidad and Tobago’s first insurance brokerage firm, to create CIC Insurance Brokers (Guyana) Incorporated.
“CIC and I saw an opportunity and we went after it. We are committed to playing our part in Guyana’s continuous development,” Pereira said.

He noted that already he and his partners have completed the construction of a multimillion-dollar facility to house the new business. CIC Guyana, according to a statement issued by the company, is a full-service insurance brokerage company that will offer risk advisory services, risk transfer via insurance products, and claims advocacy. “Those products will include employee health, life and pension benefits; home, motor, travel and general insurance for citizens; as well as commercial insurance for companies and businesses in the oil and gas, financial, manufacturing, hospitality and retail sectors,” the statement noted.

It outlined too that the company will also offer indemnity cover for professionals and professional services, directors’ and officers’ liability for both public and private sector entities, employer’s liability and other casualty insurance in Guyana. “CIC Insurance Brokers (Guyana) Inc. also offers claims management and risk-management services for its clients, at no cost to them,” the statement noted.

In an invited comment, Pereira said he is proud of this new venture. “It checks all of the boxes. CIC Guyana meets the standard of integrity and service that our Group of Companies is built on, [and] draws on the expertise of an established and experienced insurance broker,” the businessman shared.

Although merged with a foreign company, Pereira said that CIC Guyana Incorporated “has Guyanese at the heart of its formation and will keep Guyanese at the heart of its operations.”

ADDITIONAL INSURANCE OPTIONS
Asked for specifics on how Guyanese will benefit from this new venture, Pereira said CIC Guyana will provide Guyanese with additional insurance options, facilitate knowledge and skill transfers, and prioritise the development of local professionals in the sector.

“This is something that’s important to me and that CIC is known for. CIC places tremendous emphasis on training and developing its people. That’s a big part of how they’ve driven innovation to provide quality service, at an affordable price and with a focus on the customer for the past 52 years. That will continue in Guyana,” Pereira assured.

During a ceremony to mark the expansion of another regional insurance company here in Guyana, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, pointed to the importance of being insured and the need for more Guyanese to get insurance. “You might not appreciate the importance of insurance until you consider, perhaps, at a household level, what happens to your family if you suffer a calamity,” Minister Singh reasoned.

He continued: “I feel very strongly that insurance is not discretionary or optional expenditure. Insurance is an indispensable staple in any company’s and any household’s risk management toolkit.”

Nonetheless, Managing Director of CIC Insurance, Mark Henderson, said he is excited about this new joint venture, pointing to the fact that his company operates within the largest economic sectors of the twin-island republic, including finance, real estate, aviation, marine, as well as power and energy sectors.

“We’ve provided services for employees and employers, individual professionals and businesses, local companies and international multinationals alike. New vistas of opportunity and growth are about to open in Guyana,” Henderson noted.

He said that once CIC Guyana is up and running, the company would have the capacity to help Guyana meet the insurance requirements that generally come with that type of growth that the country is currently experiencing.

“[We can] help Guyana’s entrepreneurs and companies better protect their investment. We’re excited about what we will achieve by marrying Ryan’s business experience and knowledge of the local economy with our industry expertise,” Henderson said.