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Exhibiting disciplined commitment to transparency and board oversight

Durrant Pate/Contributor

Sagicor Group Jamaica has secured the highest-tier ‘AA’ Corporate Governance Index (CGI) Rating from the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE), posting an impressive 95.50 score. 

This distinction places Sagicor among the market’s strongest governance performers, signalling a disciplined commitment to transparency and board oversight. The Group achieved perfect scores in several critical areas, including Shareholders’ Rights, Role of Stakeholders, Financial Statements Compliance, and Company Website Governance Standards. 

The company also secured full compliance scores for communication of announcements, takeovers and mergers, listing agreement obligations, securities transactions, timely disclosure and management discussion and analysis reporting. 

In areas that are particularly significant to institutional investors and analysts, Sagicor also delivered near-maximum results, underscoring the depth of the Group’s governance systems and the quality of its public reporting and board oversight structures.

The latest rating continues a multi-year rise in Sagicor’s governance score, up nearly 13 points over five years, driven by deliberate improvements as investors place more weight on accountability, transparency, and long-term resilience.

The JSE’s 2024/2025 CGI assessment, which reviewed 99 listed companies across the market. According to the JSE, the average listed company received a ‘CC’ rating, highlighting the strength of Sagicor’s performance relative to the broader market and placing the Group firmly within the exchange’s top governance category. 

Strong signal to local stock market

As the regional capital markets continue to evolve, Sagicor’s top-tier rating sends a strong signal that high performance and strong governance remain mutually reinforcing pillars of sustainable success. The board and management are particularly pleased with this top CGI AA performance.

President and CEO, Christopher Zacca, said the rating reflects the company’s long-standing commitment to accountability and disciplined leadership, noting, “governance is not a compliance exercise for Sagicor; it is the foundation on which we build trust, drive performance, and deliver lasting value to our shareholders and the communities we serve. This rating confirms we are doing that at the highest level.”

Continuing, Zacca emphasised that governance remains fundamental to sustaining confidence in both the company and the wider capital market environment. For him, “our governance scores have improved every single year for five consecutive years, which is the result of deliberate, disciplined work. As Jamaica’s capital markets mature and investor expectations rise, we intend to stay ahead of that curve and raise the bar for what accountability looks like at a listed company.”

Group Chairman, Peter Melhado, remarked, “Earning the JSE’s top ‘AA’ rating with a score of 95.50 is a direct reflection of the standards we hold ourselves to every single day. Strong governance is how great companies are built, and this result shows that we are setting the benchmark for what that looks like in Jamaica.”

For business leaders, shareholders, and market participants, governance rankings have become increasingly important indicators of corporate quality and risk management. Sagicor’s latest result therefore strengthens its position not only as a financial powerhouse, but as one of the benchmark governance institutions listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange.