Caribbean Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors in Belize

One hundred and fifty representatives from throughout the Caribbean are in Belize for the annual congress of the Caribbean Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (CARAIFA). The congress, which will be hosted at Coco Beach Resort in San Pedro, starts on Sunday and runs until next Wednesday. It is expected to be four days of seminars and cultural exchanges. The event has been planned around the theme “Today’s Excellence…Tomorrows Legacy”, which is fitting since the aim is to hone the skills of the advisors to better serve their clients. News Five spoke to the president of the Belize Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (BELAIFA) as well as the visiting Secretary General of CARAIFA about what’s in store for the congress participants.

Tessa Usher, President, BELAIFA

“Each year the Caribbean Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, of which Belize is a member, hosts an annual congress to bring insurance advisors of the Caribbean together in an environment where they can motivate, educate, enhance their knowledge and skills to be better able to deliver to the public at large. As a result of that, each year the Caribbean association picks a country that is going to be hosting that congress and Belize gets to host that congress this year. So we have delegates from across the Caribbean; approximately about a hundred and fifty delegates have registered for the congress.”

Marcel Fenton

Marcel Fenton, Secretary General, CARIFA

“It is what allows individuals to be retooled, to sharpen their skills; to be able to sell better, to uncover needs better and to motivate them ensure that if in the event the breadwinner passes on, there will be food, shelter and clothing for the family of that breadwinner when they need it most.”

Delahnie Bain

“What are some of the activities or the discussions that you all will be having the three or so days that the congress will run?”

Marcel Fenton

“We will be speaking about how to be a professional, how to increase your sales, how to uncover needs and we have a CARAIFA Foundation so we have a main platform speaker who will be speaking about how to protect yourself in terms of the diseases around. You know stress in times like these is very prevalent. We’re also having our annual general meeting and that meeting is from now until Sunday just before the congress. So we have a number of individuals from all over the English speaking Caribbean. The presidents of the various territories along with the executive of CARAIFA meeting to strategize and plan for the next five years to ensure that we can continue because we have been doing this for thirty-five years.”

Tessa Usher

Tessa Usher

“I would just like to welcome our Caribbean brothers and sisters. It’s a pleasure and a privilege that the Belize Association has to be hosting that congress this year. It’s a very prestigious congress and for us to be hosting it, it says a lot about Belize’s capability and what we have to offer.”

Among the delegates are twenty-five Belizean advisors. The Bahamas, Dominica, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Barbados will also be represented at the event. Belize previously hosted the CARAIFA Congress in 1998 and 2002.