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By Shari Narine
Windspeaker.com Contributor
The heads of TIPI Insurance Partners and IMI Brokerage Company want to see the growth of their new partnership directly feed into the growth of First Nation communities.
“It’s a matter of our communities supporting us as we grow so we can become bigger and offer those good paying jobs back to the people. I really want to see this thing become bigger and better so we can continue to invest in training and creating jobs and doing those wonderful things for First Nations people,” said Nathan Ballantyne, CEO of TIPI Insurance Partners.
Earlier this month, Ballantyne and Joan Barmby-Halcro, founder and president of IMI Brokerage, announced that their companies had formed a partnership which would allow them to offer fuller services tailored to meet the unique needs of First Nations communities at a competitive rate.
While they will continue to operate as separate brands, their brokers, the majority of which are Indigenous, will be able to offer the full array of services. Together they are the largest Indigenous-owned insurance agency in Canada.
“We want to see our company now expand even more and provide more monetary benefits back to the First Nations across Canada. There are First Nations out there, across the country, and they’re getting tired of just being provided a service. They want an ownership interest and that’s what we’re going to look forward to doing,” said Barmby-Halcro,
The two companies have distributed $1.7 million in profits to their shareholders, says Ballantyne, which are First Nations and tribal councils. That money has been invested back into the communities, helping to build their local economies.
Barmby-Halcro says they’re looking at how more First Nations can invest in their partnership and share in the monetary profits, and she wants the investment opportunity to be available to not only the First Nations that are financially viable, but also to the communities that are struggling. To that end, she adds, they have hired a consultant and they hope to have a plan in place by the end of the year.
“As I travel across Canada and meet with First Nations, they’re all asking for that. So I think it’s important that we step up to the plate and offer them some ownership interest in what we’re all about. It gives them a vested interest and any time someone has a vested interest, they’re a lot more in tune to supporting the whole effort,” she said.
Another service the new partnership is offering, and which could also make a difference in economic sustainability for First Nations, centres around land claims. An insurance policy, with Royal Bank of Canada offering a line of credit, will allow First Nations to access funding to research claims and cover legal fees. If the claim is successful, the line of credit will be used to pay the insurance premium. If the claim is not successful, the insurance policy will pay off the line of credit.
“We’re hoping this will allow for more successful claims to be processed, because, I mean, unfortunately, a lot of communities don’t have the resources to engage in something like that so they’re stuck. So it’s just an option for them to pursue with a litigation process that they would not otherwise be able to,” said Ballantyne.
While the model is based on a similar product in England, it has been tailored to work for First Nations communities in Canada, he added.
Moving forward, Ballantyne says the partnership will work towards acquiring more assets, including some of the smaller brokerage firms that carry out business on First Nations. Economies of scale, he says, will bring fees down for such services as pension plans, and health and group benefits.
“Our vision is to be the most cost effective player out there and create jobs that go along with it. We train and invest in First Nations people,” said Ballantyne.
The Winnipeg-based TIPI Insurance Partners acquired 51 per cent of Saskatchewan-based IMI Brokerage Company. TIPI had offered group health and pension plans as well as property and casualty insurance, while IMI offered only group health and pension plans.
Swampy Cree Tribal Council was the majority owner of TIPI, with Tribal Wi-Chi-Way-Win Capital Corp. holding 25 per cent before the IMI deal. IMI is owned equally by 11 First Nations, eight in Saskatchewan and two in Alberta, as well as Barmby Financial Inc.
Ballantyne is a member or the Grand Rapids First Nation, in Manitoba, which is a shareholder in the partnership through the Swampy Cree Tribal Council. Barmby-Halcro is a member of the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan.
Barmby-Halcro says IMI had identified the need to expand to general insurance.
“Twenty-four years later and we’ve finally done it. We’re very excited about that,” she said. On the verge of retirement, Barmby-Halcro said she will be staying on at least two more years to “move the whole expansion forward.”