Editors Pick
Corporate personality of the week: meet Edwin Igbiti, the CEO of AIICO Insurance
Edwin Igbiti is our corporate personality of the week. Read to know all there is to know about him.
In Nigeria today, there are currently about 20 Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of NSE-listed insurance companies. One of them is Mr. Edwin Igbiti, the CEO of AIICO Insurance Plc. Mr. Igbiti is a seasoned professional who has garnered many years of professional experience in the sector.
For the nearly five years that he has been the CEO of AIICO, Edwin has contributed immensely towards ensuring the overall success of the company. But there have also been some not-so-pleasant developments under his watch. All these notwithstanding, we have chosen him as our corporate personality of the week. Read on to learn all there is to know about this accomplished man.
Who is Edwin Friday Igbiti?
Mr. Edwin Friday Igbiti is one of Nigeria’s most prominent business executives. Thanks to his educational background and many years of professional experience, he has managed to make a name for himself as one of the strongest voices as far as insurance is concerned.
Asides being a valued underwriter, Mr. Igbiti is also an accomplished administrator, an industrial relationship expert, and an exemplary team leader.
A look at his educational background
Like most other accomplished professionals, Mr. Igbiti has garnered different academic qualifications over the years. These include an Advanced Diploma in Management from University of Lagos and a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Ado Ekiti. He is also an alumnus of the Howard University Business School in the United States of America.
Apart from his academic qualifications, Edwin has received professional certifications, both within and outside Nigeria. He has also undergone courses on reinsurance/claims administration and risk management.
His membership of professional organisations
Igbiti is an Associate Member of the Chartered Insurance Institute of London (ACII), a Chartered Member of the Nigerian Institute of Management, and a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN). He is also a Member of the Institute of Directors in Nigeria.
An overview of his professional experience
Edwin Igbiti has worked in various capacities, including underwriting sales and claims management in the insurance industry. Prior to joining AIICO Insurance Plc in 1992 as a Deputy Manager, he started out working at Phoenix Insurance Company as an underwriting trainee. The years he spent working there apparently helped to prepare him for the long and successful career he has had thus far in the industry.
Since 1992 when he joined the company, Mr. Igbiti has steadily risen up the corporate ladder, thanks to a series of promotions. Shortly before his appointment in 2013 as the Chief Executive Officer, he was the General Manager in charge of Non-Life and Technical Operations. He has also served as a liaison officer, managing relationships between the company and other corporations.
Here’s how AIICO Insurance Plc has performed since Igbiti’s assumption of office
Over the past five years following his assumption of office as the Chief Executive Officer of AIICO Insurance Plc, Mr. Igbiti has contributed a lot to the company’s overall growth. For instance, gross premium written increased, on the average, from N23.6 billion in 2013 to N33.6 billion in 2014. For its full-year 2017 financial report, gross premium written stood at N32 billion. The company’s profit, however, decreased by 87% last year, with N1.2 billion reported as against N10.2 billion in the preceding year.
The financial report aside, Mr. Igbiti has also been at the forefront of the campaign to revamp the insurance sector by advocating for the prompt settlement of claims. The non-payment/untimely payment of claims has been one of the biggest challenges facing the sector, which has resulted in low patronage, as many Nigerians gradually lost faith in insurance firms. For these reasons, it became imperative for serious measures to be taken to change the bad perception.
But it has not been all smooth sailing during his tenure…
In early 2017, AIICO Insurance Plc was rocked by a fraud scandal involving one of its former agency staff. The unnamed former employee had been duping unsuspecting customers, and there were speculations that some other employees engaged in the same unethical/criminal practice.
It is worth noting that this incident happened right under Mr. Igbiti’s supervision. However, following the uncovering of the crime, he took swift actions towards remedying it — he ordered an investigation, sacked all erring staff, and also stopped collecting cash payments from customers, opting for e-Payment methods instead.
A look at his remuneration
For all his efforts geared at positioning the company for greatness, Mr. Igbiti is well compensated. According to information contained in the company’s 2017 full year financial report, he receives as much as N42,508,000 in annual compensations.
He currently holds a total of 1,380,202 units of shares in the company. At a cost per share of 71 kobo, his shareholding would translate to some N979,940.42.
Currencies
DEVALUATION: CBN updates website to official rate of N360/$1
The central bank of Nigeria has devalued its official exchange rate from N307/$1 to N360/$1.
Just as Nairametrics reported, the Central Bank of Nigeria has devalued its official exchange rate from N307/$1 to N360/$1. The apex bank has now reflected this change on its website signaling a confirmation. The bank is yet to issue a press release to this effect.
The CBN has now officially devalued by 15% moving from N307/$1 to N360/$1. Depreciation at the “market-determined” I&E window is 5% having moved from N360/$1 to N380/$1
Devaluation: Nairametrics reported yesterday that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold dollars to banks at N380/$1 in a move signifying a devaluation of the currency. Banks trading at the Investor and Exporter (I&E) window bought dollars at N360/$1 from the CBN on Friday, March 20, 2020. The I&E window is the official market where forex is traded between banks, the CBN, foreign investors, and businesses. The central bank typically buys or sells in the market as part of its intervention program.
The CBN has updated its website with the official exchange rate.
Nairametrics also got hold of a letter from the CBN to banks informing them of the new exchange rate for dollars flowing from the International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs). According to the CBN, IMTOs will sell to banks at N376/$1 while banks will sell to the CBN at N377/$1. The CBN will sell to BDC’s at N378/$1 while the BDC’s will sell to end-users at “no more than” N380/$1.
Single Exchange Rate: A report yesterday also suggested that the CBN also planned to move to a single exchange rate policy for determining the price of the dollar. A senior central bank official who does not want to be identified, said, ‘Today we allowed the rate at the importer and exporters (I&E) window to adjust in response to market developments.’
The central bank has now made an apparent u-turn after it had initially that the “market fundamentals do not support naira devaluation at this time” detailing reasons why it did not need to devalue.
Falling oil price: Oil prices fell to under $20 on Friday before climbing back up to settle at $23 per barrel. Nigeria’s Bonny light trades at $26 while the benchmark Brent crude trades at $29 per barrel. In response to the crash in oil price, Nigeria’s announced a cut to its 2020 budget by N1.5 trillion as it faced the reality of a potential drop in its revenues. Nairametrics also has information that state governments are getting jittery about their ability to sustain salary payments as a reduction in their federal allocation “FAAC” is anticipated.
Career tips
Investment options for salary earners
Investment options for the salary earners
#Investing #Entrepreneurs #Investment #Salary #Wages
Recently, one of the readers of my articles asked to know what investment options are open to salary earners. A salaried individual is like everyone else except that he or she has a fixed monthly income. This implies that their investments and expenses have to be managed strictly according to their fixed monthly income.
Since salary is assumed to be the only source of income for the salaried, it is advisable that such an individual fortify himself financially before investing so that adverse investment performance will not have untold effect on him and his family. Therefore, if you are a salaried prospective investor, you need to:
READ: Where to invest N500,000 right now
Get life insurance
Most families in Nigeria are single income families so much such that if anything bad happens to the income earner, the family gets shattered, at least financially. Again, given the risks inherent in capital market investments, it is only prudent to have a life insurance as a first step in one’s investment journey. It is very baffling to see many investors very deep into the market, yet they do not have life insurance.
[Read Also: Understanding the risks in bond investing]
Life insurance is and should be a basic part of any financial plan. Life insurance is a protection for loved ones against financial hardship arising from the death of a breadwinner. This is even more important today than ever before with high cost of funeral expenses, college education and medical bills. So, the first investment option for a salaried individual is to get a life insurance.
Prepare for financial emergencies
Life is full of surprises, emergencies do happen, jobs are lost without notices, and even good investment opportunities emerge sometimes suddenly. There is, therefore, the need for a cash reserve to help weather the financial storms and emergencies when they come calling.
READ: SEC issues pre-notice on cancellation of certificates of 157 inactive CMOs
Cash reserves do not only provide for emergencies, they also help to ensure that investments are not liquidated prematurely or at inopportune times to cover unexpected expenses. There are no hard and fast rules on what the exact amount of the required cash reserve should be, but most financial experts and planners will advise that an amount that equals about six months of living expenses be set aside.
So, as a salaried person, your next investment should be to have a cash reserve. A cash reserve should not necessarily be in a savings account or under the mattress; it could be in an interest-bearing money market account, money market mutual funds with low to zero luck-up period or another form of very liquid investment that is readily convertible to cash without loss of value.
[Read Also: Understanding the risks in bond investing]
Know your risk appetite
As a salaried and fixed income individual, your risk appetite is most likely going to be low as well as your risk tolerance, although your extended family profile could change all that. You need to know or understand your risk tolerance before you engage in any capital market investment.
Your risk tolerance will and should drive the type of investments you go into. Your risk tolerance depends on your psychological makeup, your current insurance coverage, presence or absence of cash reserve, family situation, and your age among others.
READ: Here’s what will happen to Nigeria’s insurance sector in the short to medium term
Talking about family situation, it is reasonable to think that a married individual whose children are still in school will be more risk averse than an unmarried person. On the other hand, older people have shorter investment time horizon within which to make up for any losses. the reason for this is because the older you get the less time you have to work to recoup on losses.
In that case the risk tolerance of an older man will be less than those for younger folks. Again, the more cash reserve and insurance coverage you have, the more your propensity to take risk. Now having known your risk tolerance based on the underlying factors, you can then define your investment objectives
[Read Also: Important tips on how to profit in a bearish market]
Set your Investment objectives/goals
Having met those essentials above, you are now ready for a serious investment plan or program. A good investment plan starts with investment objectives. Investment objectives are the force that determines what you invest in. Investment objectives range from capital preservation, to capital appreciation and constant income generation.
Capital preservation as an investment objective implies that you, the investor, aim at minimising the risk of loss by maintaining the purchasing power of your investment. So, if you are risk averse or you will need money from your investment soon for children’s education or for building a house or you are nearing retirement, this should be your objective.
READ: CBN debits banks N216.1 billion for CRR compliance
Investors whose aims are to see their investment portfolios increase in real terms over a period of time are better suited for capital appreciation as an objective. This is better for investors that are more risk tolerant and those with more potential to recoup on losses along the way.
If you are already retired or nearing retirement, and therefore depend on your retirement plan supplemented by investment income, you need an investment that generates income rather than capital gains. In that case, your investment objective should be current income generation. It is always good to have investment goals stated in terms of risk and returns.
[Read Also: I-Invest generates over N2 billion transaction in less than 6 months]
Decide on asset allocation
Armed with the knowledge of your risk appetite and investment objective, you are now ready to decide on what to invest in, and how much to invest in any asset class. This takes you to asset allocation decisions. Asset allocation involves dividing an investment portfolio among different asset classes based on an investor’s financial requirements, investment objectives and risk tolerance.
A right mix of asset classes in a portfolio provides an investor with the highest probability of meeting his/her investment objectives. Asset allocation is the most important investment decision an investor can make in a portfolio because it demonstrates an investor’s understanding of his or her risk preferences and return expectations.
READ: How to build a profitable Mutual Fund Portfolio
It is good to strive for a diversified portfolio. Unfortunately, the Nigerian market does not provide a lot of asset classes for optimal diversification, but diversification can be achieved across sectors or industries within the few asset classes in the Nigerian stock market.
Decide on how to invest
There are different ways to invest in the capital market. You can invest directly by making the stock selections by yourself, thanks to the online stock trading platforms that abound the world over. This implies that you have what it takes to conduct the required research and analysis of the companies whose shares or stocks you wish to buy.
[Read Also: How I Would Invest My Mother’s Retirement Funds]
It also implies that you have what it takes to know when to sell or add to existing positions. Another method is to have someone “do the heavy lifting” for you. In this case, that someone, often times called fund manager or portfolio manager, does the research and analysis and selects shares that suit your investment preferences, investment objectives, risk tolerance and appetite as well as your investment time horizon.
This route is most suitable for investors that lack the knowledge and time for the required research and analysis. If you decide to go this route, mutual funds are the best bet for you.
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