Bank records $816m growth in its investment portfolio size

BSP Life (Fiji) Ltd recorded a growth in its investment portfolio size to a record $816 million as of December 31, 2020.

This is according to the managing director Michael Nacola during a talona session with the media on Thursday, April 15.

“We have been around for over 145 years through many different brands, we have been in Fiji for many years,” he said.

“And as a BSP Life brand, we came on board about ten years ago when BSP acquired the then Colonial.”

He said BSP Life had 100 per cent ownership of Oceania Hospitals.

“The hospital has no direct bearing on our health business.

“Hospital is a subsidiary of the Life Insurance investment portfolio.

“The health insurance is a subsidiary of the BSP Life group and there’s no correlation between the hospital and direct linkage with the health business.

“They operate totally independently of each other, but they’re within the same kind of umbrella of groupings of businesses that we own,” he explained.

Mr Nacola added it was totally distinct as it has its own board of directors and it had its own governing structure.

“We have investments in the Sofitel, we are the major equity partner there with Fiji Airways, we have about 62 per cent.

“We own 100 per cent of Rooster as part of our private equities.

“We have investments in bonds, we have investments in properties, we have investments in offshore equities, etc.

“As part of our diversified portfolio to ensure that on the life insurance side, when people are giving us premiums, whether the premiums are $60, a fortnight, or $600 a fortnight or $500,000 a year, all the money we collect goes into this pool.”

Similar to the FNPF, Mr Nacola said their job as the custodian of this fund was to make this money work and deliver value back to the policy owners who they were accountable to as well as the shareholders.

Mr Nacola added the purpose of the session was to help the media fraternity understand the inner workings of the organisations and its investment side linked with the operations.