Terrence Thornhill, president of CLICO Holdings Limited, said on Saturday night that confidence in the institution had been battered and despite all its efforts, people have been calling on it for their money, making a bad situation worse.
He said CLICO had gone from being a very strong company with more than B$150 million in cash at the beginning of 2009 to one forced to pay out more than B$118 million over the past 12 to 14 months.
In his first interview with the SUNDAY SUN since CLICO’s parent company CL Financial Limited revealed it was on the verge of collapse unless the Trinidad and Tobago government came to its rescue, Thornhill said his management team and sales force were committed to seeing the company restored.
Weak cash position
“The fact that the company has paid out so much cash means its cash position is very weak,” the CLICO Holdings president pointed out.
He said the company continued to meet its commitments to policyholders “but it is not in a position to meet the commitment at this time to every single client”.
The CLICO group, which reportedly has more than B$1 billion in assets, has been selling some of its vast holdings.
Thornhill said that CLICO International Life president Geoffrey Brewster and his team had been “working diligently” selling millions of dollars in assets to meet the demand of CLICO policyholders.
“There are a number of people who feel a strong loyalty to the company, but their confidence has waned over time because we have not only been battered in the Press, but by friends of policyholders . . . .
“The constant hammering over time wears people out,” he said.
He added, “Because of the weak cash position we can’t pay all those persons whose policies have matured.
“It is not everybody who will immediately get their full amount even when we sell down some of our assets.”
Asked how he and the management team at CLICO have been able to keep the doors of the company open in the face of such perilous circumstances, Thornhill said:
“Our staff and agency force are extremely loyal to CLICO and some have been with the company for a long time. They know the company was in a strong position before . . . but this is what can happen when you are part of a bigger group.
“It has been a learning experience in how you manage in a period when there is so much distress. And now that the economy is not doing well, as other countries’ around the world, that too has created some constraints in terms of what options people may have.”
