Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1472631
5 INTERVIEW 7.7.2022 brand and was well known, but from the beginning I'd been pushed by dif- ferent sides to rebrand and change the name because of some legacy issues the company had suffered. I resisted chang- ing the name until the restructuring was complete, because I always believe in substance — before changing the name, I really wanted the substance of the company to be completely restruc- tured and to be in the shape it should have been. Simply changing the name without changing the company doesn't really help. So, when in 2021 we felt the transformations, restructuring and up- grades were completed, we decided to change the name. We studied the brand at length because, as you mentioned, we wanted a brand which is recognisa- ble — not only in Malta, but also inter- nationally. I always had an affinity with the word 'star'. My holding company is named Investar, so we studied this brand and it came quite naturally. Being primarily in life insurance and health insurance, this also expresses our desire to provide our clients the life of a star — which, in a way, means, "live your life, because we are here to give you full protection. Live your life to the fullest, and we are here behind you to protect whatever may happen in your life." When you look back over the last six years, including the last two years through the COVID-19 pandemic, what would you say your successes have been? That is, primarily in terms of tangible results, and away from simply the restructuring. e financial results are very good, but I will say that the biggest and most re- warding result for me has been the team of people we were able to create. is was very evident during COVID-19 when, for instance, our company en- countered a lot of struggles due to peo- ple not being able to come to the office and instead working from home. Our business requires a lot of documents: medical documents and other very sensitive documents, and the team was great — we had people volunteering to go to the office from time to time to pick up the documents which were missing. In a way, during this time of problems and hurdles we created a very good feel- ing in the team, a lot of loyalty to the company and a lot of resistance to ad- versity. I will say that the results that we experienced last year were, in spite of these events, probably our best in terms of financial results. e results that we experienced these years in terms of sales and in spite of the post-COVID and the war in Ukraine is 99 percent given by the greatness of the team, which day after day after day, and with a lot of en- thusiasm and dedication, continues to believe in the growth of the company and the strength of the company. Looking forward, in terms of expanding your operations, creating employment and additional multiplayer effects — not only within our territory, but most especially within our territory — what are the things you are looking forward to? e environment is extremely compli- cated particularly because of the uncer- tainties — the macroeconomic issues such as inflation and interest rates, as well as political issues which are com- pletely out of our control. Clearly, either the continuation of the war [in Ukraine] or peace will have completely different effects. Restrictions from central banks or belief in the short-term inflation sit- uation will also create different scenari- os. Because we are investing with long- term horizons as I mentioned before, our clients on average are with us for 20 to 25 years, so we are really in charge of taking care of their savings, pen- sions and retirements, so for us it's very important to set a strategy and not to change it. Our advantage on the other side is that we are long-term investors, so we take a view which is not based so much on contingent events and we try to maximize the results for our clients over a lifetime. In a way, this is easier for us and makes our life easier because we're less dependent on day-by-day events. At the same time, we need to make sure that our liabilities — which are the commitments that we have tak- en with our policyholders — are always matched with sufficient assets. is is done through very complicated and so- phisticated actuarial calculations and statistical tables, but we always make sure that even under the most adverse circumstances and severe stress test, the money of our policyholders is al- ways protected; that their lifetime sav- ings and retirement plans are always there and keep growing, because that's what they're there for. You refer to the successes of the company in terms of the challenges of the last six years, but if we were to discuss figures and audit reports from financial advisors who have looked at the company, what have they been saying about Lifestar? We had a valuation of the company about two years ago. e value was in the range of €40 million, which is a great result considering the valuation of the company six years ago when we took it over. In terms of financial results, I can tell you that 2021 was a particularly good year. We finished with a profit of about €1.6 million, and the growth of assets was quite amazing. We passed from about €120 million in assets, to in excess of €180 million in about five years, so the growth has been quite ex- ceptional and the results have been very positive. Now, obviously the next step is to grow the company outside Mal- ta's borders, because even if it's a very important market for us in terms of numbers and the establishment of the company in history, the numbers of the markets are what they are and the mar- ket is very dominated by banks — par- ticularly BOV and HSBC, who have the larger share of the insurance market. at's why we need to expand to other markets; since we are a small company, we need to play smart and not try to compete with the bigger guys, instead finding some niche markets where we can win in terms of flexibility and in- novative technologies. at's where we have been investing substantially in the last couple of years. If I were to interview you in a year's time, without revealing what is happening behind the scenes, do you think you will be able to talk about growth outside Malta? Yes, we are looking to a number of growth options, some through internal growth and some through acquisitions. We are looking to banking, because obviously the bank-insurance model is a winning one, especially in Europe. We're looking to expand in other non- life business, but we're also looking to other kinds of synergistic businesses which are not necessarily strictly finan- cial services. Obviously, we would like to grow, and in Malta we've been grow- ing a lot and right now employ about 120 people. Unfortunately, I must say that following the greylisting, the atti- tude and position of the regulator has not always been particularly favourable to investors and to foreign investors. Hopefully, when this issue is sorted out, we can go back to a more standard re- lationship. At this time, this could be a deterrent for us to invest more in finan- cial services in Malta, but we continue to remain optimistic. fullest ... we've got you covered' Because we are investing with long-term horizons, our clients on average are with us for 20 to 25 years, so we are really in charge of taking care of their savings, pensions and retirements, so for us it's very important to set a strategy and not to change it