Sagicor hires Citi for fund-administration advice

Sabrina Gordon, Business Reporter

Sagicor Life Jamaica (SLJ) has contracted global financial services company Citigroup to provide fund accounting and administrative services for its investment portfolio, last estimated at around J$130 billion.

But whether Citi will be advising the insurance company on the management of the total portfolio is yet to be decided.

"We have not started using the service yet, we expect to do so in the third quarter of this year. As we move more and more into it, that will be determined," said Rohan Miller, vice-president for investment at SLJ.

He said the arrangement is not an outsourcing of management of Sagicor's fund pools.

Citi on Wednesday announced that it had got the mandate from Sagicor "to provide a comprehensive suite of hedge-fund services" to the group.

"Specifically, Citi will be delivering global custody, hedge-fund administration and risk reporting" to Sagior, the company said, but its Kingston office redirected all other queries to the insurance company.

Miller declined to disclose the cost of retaining the hedge-fund services, but said it will amount to a fraction of the portfolio given to Citi to provide the services itemised under the contract.

Prior to the new arrangement, the pricing of investment instrument and valuing of the portfolio was done on a monthly basis using a general accounting system.

But now, "we will have access to investment pricing and tracking of all transaction or movement of securities in our portfolio on a more real-time basis, which is what is required in investment market now if you are to compete globally," said Miller.

"The platform will allow for accounting reporting on the performance of the portfolio on a quicker and more efficient basis. With it, we will be able to see the performance of the portfolio on a daily basis now, any changes to it, and be able to react to these changes quicker," he said.

The service to be provided by Citi, the company will collect all information on Sagicor's investment transactions, saving time and money.

"So, instead of going to different banks or brokers, we just go to Citi to get all the information," said Miller.

"With this, there is greater efficiency, quicker service; so we are able to provide better quality financial service to clients at a good price," he said.

"Our clients are exposed to investment opportunities world-wide and these offer daily efficient reporting, so this is in an attempt to become as competitive, globally," said Miller.

Citigroup, a US$12.6-trillion company by assets, has more than 200 million customer accounts in 160 countries, including Jamaica.

"Following a thorough review of service providers, we select Citi because of its holistic view of our business," Miller said.

Miller said that the move will support the company's global plans. No details were provided, but Sagicor is expanding further into the region and Latin America.

Earlier this month, the company, whose operations had been confined to Jamaica and Cayman Islands, partnered with a Costa Rican company, Capital and Advice Limited, to provide insurance services in the Central American region.

sabrina.gordon@gleanerjm.com