• Thursday, March 28, 2024
businessday logo

BusinessDay

Universal Insurance marks 60 years of successful business in Nigeria

Universal Insurance

Underwriting firm, Universal Insurance Plc has rolled out drums to celebrate its 60 years of successful business in Nigeria, crossing all the hurdles in a challenging environment, and also creating value for her policy holders and investors alike.

From a humble beginning in Enugu, the then South-Eastern Nigeria, Universal Insurance Plc has grown to become a major player in the nation’s insurance sector, producing many insurance professionals that are today occupying high and top places in the Nigerian business community.

The company is optimist that going into the next decades will be an ambition to further entrench professionalism, ethical practice and more value creation for all its stakeholders.

Ben Ujoatuonu, its managing director/CEO, excited about the palatial history of the Company takes journalists into how the company has traversed the economic and business landscape to emerge a major player today.

Ujoatuonu disclosed that firm’s total assets presently stands at N11 billion and shareholders’ fund N9 billion, while also informing that its 2020 financial result shows an 80 percent increase in revenue.

He noted that the company’s board had granted approval for the opening of branches in Kano and Uyo, stressing that the process to achieved the target had commenced.

He also remarked that the board had granted approval for the firm to have a microinsurance company, having applied for an operational licence from by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).

Ujoatuonu, who was happy for the feat the company had achieved in the past 60 years, said he is one of the beneficiaries of firm’s education support, stressing that as part of the firm’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), it offered her staff to lecture insurance for free in Enugu State University (ESUT) and Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu.

According to him, the endowment, helped in raising many insurance professionals, who are today driving the insurance industry to lofty heights.

He maintained that due to the robust operational processes entrenched by the firm, the COVID-19 lockdown and #EndSARS protest didn’t have much impact on the company’s revenue, which he said stood at 80 per cent in 2020.

He maintained that the 80 per cent revenue earned last year was aided by the firm’s robust Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure, stressing that the company stands amongst the top five in Alexa rating.

He said the firm is presently active on all social media channels, adding that the channels are also leveraged to sell policies to clients.

According to him, the firm would soon launch its Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) which will also be used to sell policies to esteemed customers.

Ujoatuonu posited that the firm has massively invested in retail business, as it is poised to largely deepen that segment of insurance business.

According to him, the firm had in recent times, evolved and got approval from NAICOM for eight innovative products, stressing that the products are presently doing well in the market. He said the products are targeted on specific people especially those at the grassroots and that the means of paying premium have also been designed in a simple form to stem hassles.

“Universal Insurance is growing stronger and it is made up of averagely young people. We have experience of the old and vigour of the young,” he submitted