Apr 2004 Financial News

Scotiabank gets into life insurance

Apr 19, 2004

SCOTIABANK of Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday launched its new subsidiary, ScotiaLife, at 51 Degrees, Cipriani Boulevard, Port of Spain. ScotiaLife will provide life insurance and other finance products to its customers. Initially ScotiaLife, which is headed by general manager, Gillian Poon Ting, offers two products, ScotiaSecure and ScotiaSelect.

ScotiaSecure is a structured savings plan that features life insurance coverage, while ScotiaSelect is a retirement savings plan that takes the form of a deferred annuity package. These will be available throughout the Scotiabank branch network, where licensed agents will be stationed.

Poon Ting said the plan was for the ScotiaLife agents to work closely with customers to ensure that each person is given a package that tailors to his specific financial needs based on dreams and goals.

"Our planning process encourages the customer to set an achievable savings target, one which assists in instilling financial discipline towards saving," Poon Ting said.

Central Bank Governor Ewart Williams, in his feature address, cautioned Scotiabank that the insurance industry could be extremely challenging. "Let me caution you that if you think that bank customers are slow to give love, the insurance clients are even more difficult to court," Williams said.

Source: Trinidad Express
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_business?id=22956466