Colina Insurance executives sought to inspire the next generation of Bahamian professionals by discussing their career journeys before students during the College of the Bahamas (COB) recent Business Week.

These presentations were the Launchpad for Colina’s on-the-road model of ‘CONNECT’, its free public education programme designed to provide knowledge of insurance concepts and raise awareness about the importance of life and health insurance, financial planning and wellness.

“More than a year ago Colina launched CONNECT,” said Wendy Butler, Colina’s vice-president of life operations.

“Since hosting four successful public forums, we’ve now expanded our mandate to reach out to niche groups in order to advance a better understanding of insurance and financial planning. It was natural to select the nation’s premier tertiary institution, and especially its business students, as our first stop.”

During the informative session at COB’s Business Week, themed ‘Forty Years of Excellence: Embracing University’, former COB alumni shared their personal journeys from the college to the boardrooms at Colina.

DeAndrea Lewis, the only Bahamian actuary working in the Bahamas, who is responsible for the management of the individual life block of business at Colina, presented ‘Insurance 101’. She discussed life, medical and mortgage insurance, the process of pricing insurance products, the risks involved in insurance and interest rates for insurance premiums.

Kenray Marsh, a COB alumnus and Colina’s new business manager and senior underwriter, is only the second Bahamian Fellow of the Academy of Underwriting (FALU), which is the highest designation in the life insurance underwriting profession.

He outlined the role of an insurance underwriter, the types of underwriting in life, health and casualty insurance, and the evaluation of risks and accuracies involved in taking on new clients.

Other Colina presenters included top sales representatives and Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) qualifiers, Amanda Knowles and Ian Capron, who each offered a look into the benefits of a career in insurance sales.

They both began their careers in banking and accounting, but soon shifted gears and began to look to the insurance industry for greater autonomy, earning potential and career satisfaction.

Rounding off the team of presenters was Cathy Williams, Colina’s vice-president of finance, who talked about the technical aspects of financial accounting in life and health insurance.

She talked of her own road to the insurance industry in the Bahamas, after beginning her career as a junior auditor for PriceWaterhouseCoopers in her native Canada.

The purpose of Business Week, according to Remelda Moxey, acting dean of the Faculty of Business, is to give the School of Business an opportunity to showcase its graduates and provide students with a discussion forum led by a cadre of alumni and guests with real world experiences.

Emmanuel Komalafe, Colina’s chief risk and compliance officer, told the students that “one of the objectives at Colina is to educate the public but, in addition to educating, we also want to inspire”.