Every journey starts with a step and ours is not any different with the history of our success beginning in 1991 when we were incorporated as a business. By 1995, we would go on to commence operations fully to kick-start what has been 25 eventful years of establishing and maintaining a sturdy business foundation built on trust, commitment, and excellence.
Custodian Investment Plc was established with the overriding aim of being the preferred partner in creating and preserving wealth while remaining efficiently productive in striving to meet the unique and diverse needs of our customers. This vision translates to our continuous determination to grow and expand; efforts that have seen us acquire three fledgling businesses so far.
First, we acquired Signal Insurance in 2006, eleven years after we had commenced business. This was the first merger in the history of the insurance industry with its attendant benefits to our performance. Successful people do not rest on their laurels; as such, we furthered our growth with the acquisitions of FEGIC just a year later in 2007 and Crusader Group in 2013 with the latter boasting over 50 years of financial services experience.
Today, we are a group comprising four subsidiaries – Custodian and Allied Insurance Limited, Custodian Life Assurance Limited, Custodian Trustees, and Crusader Sterling Pensions Limited – all focused on delivering top-notch services across several spheres. Our endeavours have travelled far and wide, surpassing boundaries and exceeding expectations which has made us rank among the top three (3) insurance companies in the country.
When we became publicly quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 2007, we knew it would be the groundbreaker for a series of laudable achievements. What we didn’t know, however, was that the achievements would begin as soon as 2010 when we bagged two awards during the PEARL Awards ceremony. One was the Sectoral Leadership Award where we were recognised for our efforts as inspiring models in the Insurance industry. The second was the Highest Profit Margin Ratio award which was a recognition of our enviably excellent financial results.
Four years later in 2014, on the back of our earlier conquests, we received a Pearl Award for Sectoral Leadership in the Nigerian Stock Exchange for being a leader in the insurance sector, accentuating our position as a key industry player.
Internationally, we have built a name cast in gold. In 2012, we became the first Nigerian underwriter to sign to the principles of Sustainable Insurance of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEPFI). This bit of validation carried on to 2014 when we won the Capital Finance International (CFI) – a United Kingdom-based finance organization – award for Most Innovative Insurance Company in Nigeria.
We continue to make giant strides in the insurance sector with a resolve to never settle for less in our bid to ensure the financial security of our customers as well as build integrity and trust. A clear indication of our snowballing status is the 2017 Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry award for the insurance company of the year.
We are a group revered not just for our collective performances, but also our individual pedigree, and our Group Managing Director, Mr. Wole Oshin exemplified this when he was listed among BusinessDay’s Top 25 CEOs in Nigeria in 2014, 2016 and 2019 for the praiseworthy performance of Custodian Investment Plc on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
It is not strange that behind every successful establishment is a brilliant team. The story of our heroics will never exist but for our relentless team of dedicated professionals who have given and continue to give their all to place the company on a pedestal among players in Nigeria’s Other Financial Services Sector of the economy
We are cognisant of trends obtainable in the current dispensation, especially in reference to digital transformation. These trends are shaping marketing systems and redefining commercial activities and we are taking due steps to ensure we optimize every available option and are not left behind.
One of our biggest achievements to this end, has arguably been the digitisation of our services. We remain the first organisation in Nigeria’s non-banking sector to deploy a Chatbot. This comes in the form of our digital advisor called Max who is available round the clock to provide information and assist customers in handling their transactions; reducing to a large extent the hassles associated with physical transactions.
Additionally, we have developed a mobile app – Adapt App – compatible with both IOS and Android devices. This app not only makes getting an insurance cover a whole lot easier, it also affords users easy access to other non-insurance features including booking flights, customising meal plans, accessing premium entertainment platforms as well as nearby restaurants and gym centres amongst others. All these are in a bid to make your experience simplistic yet interesting.
Our 25-year journey has so far been a revealing experience. As an ambitious organisation, we have our sights set on creating more chapters of exciting memories and achievements. We are focused on maintaining the lofty standards we have set, living up to our name by continuously exceeding expectations, and strengthening the place of trust we have built among our esteemed customers.
Here’s to another 25 years of pleasant adventures. Cheers!
