Stokes, the strategist, to run Scotia Insurance:
FINANCIAL STRATEGIST Dr Adrian Stokes took over the reins as president of Scotia Jamaica Life Insurance Company Limited (SJLIC) on Wednesday, his first time in the boss’ seat within the Scotia Group family. He replaces Hugh Reid as president. Stokes, who has worked with Scotia Group since 2010, says SJLIC is an important strategic asset for the banking group. He replaces
“My mandate is, therefore, to drive the profitability and growth of the individual life, group life and pension insurance businesses. We will achieve this mandate by staying close to our customers, ensure that we understand their needs, and ultimately work to improve their lives,” he told the Financial Gleaner.
He also says he will be a lot more involved with the execution of initiatives.
“Rallying the team around our vision and explaining the strategic imperatives are major objectives of mine,” he said.
In his six years at Scotia Group, Stokes has held different positions, including vice-president for Strategy and Product Development at Scotia Investments Jamaica Limited; group strategist; VP for Market Risk, Strategy, and Business Intelligence; and most recently as regional director for Market Risk Management.
The bank says he successfully led the effort to create a centre of excellence in Jamaica for market risk management.
Stokes previously worked with Jamaica Money Market Brokers before joining Scotia Group. He holds a PhD in International Finance from the University of Manchester, a MSc in Economics from the University of the West Indies and is a past Commonwealth Scholar.
Meanwhile, Scotia Group also announced the appointment of Richard Fraser as senior legal counsel and corporate secretary. Fraser is coming from the senior ranks at Digicel, where he started in 2007 as head of mergers and acquisitions and head of legal and regulatory affairs for Jamaica. He was named chief operating officer at Digicel in 2012, and director of legal affairs and business development in 2014, where he was responsible for the evaluation of new market opportunities and business development initiatives to enhance revenue diversification across the Digicel Group.
Fraser did his law studies at the University of Kent, Canterbury, finishing in 1997. He qualified as a United Kingdom solicitor in 2000, returned to Jamaica in 2007, and was admitted to the Jamaican Bar in 2008.