00:00Pan American Life Insurance Group is investing U.S. $4 million to digitalize its operations
00:09across the globe. This is according to Daniel Costello, Peleg's Executive Vice President of
00:15International Markets. In a media interview on Tuesday at the Hyatt Regency, Costello shared
00:22that to modernize its operations, it will implement technology at all stages, from insurance agent
00:29to the customer. Roughly $4 million are going to be invested in these two tools that we're
00:38bringing to bear in 2026. He highlighted how efficient the app is being programmed to be
00:44and how it can reduce the company's carbon footprint by reducing its reliance on paper.
00:51Rather than getting paper notices, we're going to be moving much more towards email and text
00:56notifications. Bruce has brought together a journey of bringing our individual life business
01:04from paper-based, you know, interactions with customers to electronic-based. So we're going
01:10to be introducing a new paperless application system in the middle of 2026, and that will
01:17be revolutionary. Costello added that the app's intention is also to allow for claims to be made
01:24without being in front of an agent, should the policyholder choose to do so. He added that Peleg
01:31plans to introduce an online portal so customers can ask questions and get responses no matter the time.
01:40Robert Deciani, President of Global Benefits, said the company's asset base in the Caribbean will grow
01:46in line with the premium growth. He added that the company is expecting premium growth to be around
01:528% to 9% next year. Costello had also highlighted that the Caribbean premiums stand at $145 million
02:02as of 2025. Peleg's Chief Executive Officer for the Caribbean region, Winston Williams, who was appointed
02:10last November, also noted that for now, insurance companies will continue to tax private pension plans
02:18until proper notice comes from the government. He said Peleg and the Association of Trinidad and
02:25Tobago Insurance Companies and the government are in talks on which assets are going to be considered
02:31for the asset tax. Williams said he believes the government is still working out how this is going
02:38to unfold but noted that the real impact would be better felt when those assets are quantified.
02:45He assured that Peleg is trying to do as much as possible not to make too many changes that could impact
02:52customers. It impacts the person who's receiving the pension. So if we have to pay to you a pension
02:58of $10,000 a month, the current law says well you need to, you know, take the tax deduction out of that
03:05and remit the difference to the client. Now, what is supposed to happen is that you take no tax,
03:11you just remit the entire pension to the client. Williams noted that he does not think the tax-free
03:18private pension plan announced by the government would impact the company. He added that insurance
03:24companies have not received the cabinet note to enforce the tax yet. Bishana Pargu, TV6 News.
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