History of TTAIFA

• HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES OVER THE YEARS

• SALES CONGRESSES

• AWARDS

• TTAIFA Leadership

The Life Underwriters Association is the professional Association of life insurance salespersons in Trinidad and Tobago.

In 1970 a group of salespeople came together to form an Association. This was mainly to facilitate those salespersons who qualified for the prestigious Million Dollar Round Table and needed to be affiliated with such an organisation. Also some of the salespersons were interested in educating themselves further and found the need to enroll for the Life Underwriters Association Training Course (LUATC) and needed also to be a part of a local Association. However this effort failed and in 1975 another attempt was made to form the LUATT. This effort was successful with Mr. Anselm Alexander being elected as the first President of the Association.

The Association struggled for a number of years and a decision was taken to make the LUATT Secretariat a part of the Joint Secretariat Corporation which facilitated the Trinidad & Tobago Insurance Institute, Association of Trinidad & Tobago Insurance Companies and the Academy of Insurance. During this tenure, Mr. Donovan Palmer carried the post of Registrar for this Secretariat Corporation and worked under the leadership of Mr. John Deane - Manager of the Joint Secretariat Corporation. In March 1985, the LUATT Board made a decision to go back on their own and operate as a separate entity to the Joint Secretariat Corporation.

The Association then housed its own Secretariat at 14c Saddle Road, Maraval with a staff of four - an Office Assistant, an Accounts Clerk, a Typist and the Executive Secretary in the person of Mr. Donovan Palmer. To date the staff number remains constant and LUATT can now boast of acquiring its own building to house its Secretariat at 129 Edward Street, Port of Spain. The LUATT Building was purchased in 1994 and the Secretariat began its operations at this address in January 1995.

In 1985 LUATT with its new vision embarked on new projects viz a viz:  The first LUATT Newsletter was published to inform members and keep them abreast of pertinent matters relative to the industry. NIHERST, UTC & LUATT came together to train underwriters to market/sell Units on behalf
of the Unit Trust Corporation. Twenty four senior underwriters enrolled and were facilitated by the following moderators/ lecturers.

 Professor Compton Bourne (U.W.I.)
 Dr. Terrence Farrell
 V. James (Formerly of the Central Bank)
 A. Mark (U.W.I.)
 R. Hinds & Clarey Benn (U.T.C.)

The Constitution of the Association was revised to incorporate Chapters. The four established Chapters being - North, South, East and Tobago. The aim and objective behind this change was to relinquish some of the burden on the National Board in looking after the affairs of all salespersons in
the different areas.

This meant that each Chapter was made responsible for the salespersons in their area on a more personalised operational basis. Each Chapter was structured with their own President and Board operating under the scrutiny of the National Board.

Also in 1985 the then President - Mr. Garth Thomas and some active Board and floor members had a vision to establish a LUATT Credit Union. This idea grew and the Credit Union was formed in 1986. In spite of yeoman efforts to keep the organisation afloat, the Credit Union had to close
its doors after a ten year span.

In 1986 due to numerous complaints re. our involvement with CALU (Caribbean Association of Life Underwriters) a decision was taken by the Board, after consultation with the membership to end this relationship. This took place in 1987. However in 1995 the powers that be felt that our relationship with CALU should be re-established to foster good relations within the region. Also it was felt that this renewed relationship would redound to the benefit of our members.

Continuing on its vision for progress and improvement, the Board members felt that the managers in the Association needed more and efforts were put in train to establish an Association exclusively for managers. Through GAMA (General Agents and Managers Association) LUATT was able to establish the GAMATT (General Agents and Managers Association of Trinidad & Tobago) in 1986. Unfortunately interest in this Association waned and the Association closed its doors in 1989.

Under the guidance and efforts of Mr. Anthony Wilson-Maughn, the LUATT Board felt it wise to incorporate the Association. LUATT was no longer to be "The Life Underwriters Association of Trinidad and Tobago" but to be now known as "The Life Underwriters Association of Trinidad and Tobago Company Limited". This came into being on November 18th, 1987.

In 1988, the Awards Committee proposed to the National Board the idea of establishing a "LUATT HALL OF FAME" to honour those stalwarts within the industry for distinguished service to the Life Underwriters Association, as well as for their contribution to the Life Insurance Industry. This was
felt to be a fantastic idea and so the Hall of Fame was established with the first inductee being inducted posthumously - Mr. Cyril Duprey, former President of Colonial Life Insurance.

LUATT over the years has been invited to send representatives to Government Committees to make inputs on reform and other relative issues affecting the financial services sector. In 1997 the A.T.T.I.C. approached the LUATT Board with a view towards coming together to discuss issues and to make presentations on matters concerning the life insurance sector. This was felt to be a progressive move as together the LUATT and ATTIC would have a stronger voice when approaching the Government on such issues. To date these meetings are still being held to discuss various
pertinent topics e.g. GATS & WTO.

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HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES OVER THE YEARS

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SALES CONGRESSES

In an effort to keep our members in touch as well as educated and to stimulate interest in the Association, many Sales Congresses were hosted by the Association under the stewardship of many great insurance men, namely:

All these Congresses have been resounding successes and our membership continues to look forward to the staging of same.

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AWARDS

for 2005 Awards, click here

Over the years LUATT has staged many Awards functions - numbering 18 to date. This function was established to honour the crème de la crème of our industry in various categories. The Awards function has grown into a grand show with constant improvements each time it is staged. Our members look forward to this event every year, where all the Life Insurance Companies submit information for their salespersons who qualify according to the LUATT criteria in the different categories. This inspires salespersons to work hard towards attaining these high standards of achievement.

Initially all the Awards were based on Annual Premium Income (API) with a standard persistency of ninety percent (90%) and above, but in 1995 all the criteria was revised and after ratification by the LUATT Board was changed in 1996 to First Year Commissions (FYC) with a 90% persistency for all categories with the exception of the Rookie of the Year which has a persistency of 95% and above. This change came about due to an indepth revision by the then committee with some learned members who felt that the playing field was not level enough and by changing the criteria to FYC felt this was a step in the right direction, also it was felt that since MDRT used FYC as their basis for qualification and being an international organisation, then LUATT would be well advised to align itself with same.

Another change with the Awards was the timing. In the past the Awards was held in the last quarter of the year and incorporated into the Sales Congress in a congress year. After careful study it was decided that the Awards should be staged in the second quarter of the year immediately after all the life companies have had their individual company awards. The chief reason being that when LUATT hosted its Awards Function in the latter part of the year the impact was lost as salespersons waited almost one year to be recognised for their efforts. In recent years, the Awards Function has been given a theme by which Committee members are inspired and to stimulate interest among the membership. Beginning in 1992 they were:

1992 A Touch Of Class

1993 Seekers, Showers, Sellers

1994 Climb Every Mountain

1995 Crème de la Crème

1996 Crystal Clear

1997 Legacies Through Leadership

1998 One Voice

1999 Andante (Embracing the Future)

2000 Odyssey

2001 Sunrise to Sunset (Cameo Awards formed part of the Congress)

2002  Synergy

2003  Dichotomy

2004  TTAIFA’s 24th National Awards (1st under the TTAIFA Umbrella)

2005  The Perfect Weave

2006 The "E" Awards

2007 "A Constellation of Stars"

 

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TTAIFA Leadership

Leadership has been a key role in the life of TTAIFA and over the years we have been led by many of our members within the industry, who gave of their time and efforts freely. They are listed for your information.

1st President        1975           Mr. Anselm Alexander

2nd President       1976           Mr. Samlal Jadoonanan (Deceased)

3rd President        1977           Mr. Hugo Mc Farlane

4th President        1978           Mr. Kelly Harris, CLU

5th President        1980           Mr. Peter Salvary, FLMI

6th President        1981           Mr. Bernard Gregoire, CLU

7th President        1982           Mr. Herman Creque, MBA, CLU, ChFC

8th President        1983           Mr. Andrew Tappin

9th President        1984           Mr. Hugo Mc Farlane

10th President      1985           Mr. Garth Thomas

11th President      1986           Mr. Torrance Mohammed

12th President      1987           Mr. Alvin Alexander

13th President      1988           Mr. Anthony Wilson-Maughn

14th President      1989           Mr. Fred Williams (Deceased)

15th President      1990           Mr. Hamilton Smith (Deceased)

16th President      1991           Mr. Herman Creque, MBA, CLU, ChFC

17th President      1992           Mr. Alvin Alexander

18th President      1993           Ms. Pamela Solano

19th President      1994           Mr. Earl Alexander

20th President      1995           Mr. Steve Sumadh

21st President      1996           Mr. William Wiltshire, DLU

22nd President     1997           Mr. Norris Lovelace

23rd President      1998           Mr. Amado Marcano, CLF, CIAM

24th President      1999           Mr. Noel Duncan

25th President      2000           Mr. Harry Goodial

26th President      2001           Mr. Bunny Alexander (Deceased)

27th President      2002-04      Mr. Maxim Marquez
(First two Year Term)

28th President      2004-07      Mr. Cecil Frederick, CLU

29th President      2007-09   Mrs. Raziah Ahmen, MBA