Argus has been leading the way in developing a healthcare system that prioritises and incentivises less expensive more outcome-oriented health care.

We are actively investing in technology enabled services that reimagine key parts of our healthcare system including the delivery of care, innovative diabetes reversal programmes, improvements in care quality and accessibility, all while curtailing costs. We are building healthcare systems where the best interests of patients, payers and providers are fully aligned. Peter Lozier will explore our innovative approach to healthcare in his report.

Reimagining sustainable financial wellbeing: We are investing in our people and technology to deliver far more human-centric solutions and services; We are designing our customer and employee experiences with transparency, security and resilience as core foundational tenets; We envision more responsive, interactive experiences that serve to protect and build financial wellbeing. Tyrone Montovio will discuss our aim of helping to protect our customers’ financial wellbeing in his report.

Our team is encouraged to let their moral compass guide decision making. By doing the right thing we build trust with our clients and make positive contributions to the communities in which we operate, all of which secures future value for our shareholders... a virtuous circle where everyone can win.

• We are Best in Class specialists in island insurance markets. We specialise in physical, mental and financial health services with a focus on the integrated experience.
• We have a long history of building partnerships. We have the ability to get things done in highly connected markets. We are not just payers of benefits – we build the long-term trusted partnerships to which many businesses can only aspire.
• In highly-connected island markets, being a trusted partner allows us to serve a broad set of customer needs and gain a larger share of wallet. We aspire to be the go-to choice for corporates and individuals across our communities for integrated physical and financial health and protection.
• Our products and services are diverse but have been carefully curated to provide a coherent set of solutions centred around our corporate and individual customers.
• We operate in less familiar but highly attractive insurance markets and we play in a sophisticated way, creating attractive margins. We sell insurance and investment products at retail rates, aggregating and offloading much of the risk at wholesale rates – resulting in low risk, capital efficient income.
• The scale of our business – whilst much smaller than a typical large market player – allows us to be agile. We’re building a track record of delivering bold, cutting edge plays and a proven record of acquisitions, having acquired and successfully integrated five profitable businesses in the last five years.

All of which delivers increasing returns on equity and grows book value per share. That’s why we create a virtuous circle of success:

• We invest in diverse and inclusive teams; and
• Deliver great experiences for our employees and our customers; which
• Results in attractive and sustainable shareholder returns.

The Argus Group possesses an unparalleled depth and breadth of talent for a business of our size. We have a close-knit team and a strong collaborative culture. The overarching characteristics that bind and unite us, and set us apart from our industry peers, are our authenticity and deep humanity. We nurture a real sense of belonging and are strategic thinkers, challengers of accepted norms, and passionate about meaningful change. We’ve built a dynamic and engaging team with proven leadership and a track record of success.

Our team has collectively transformed Argus over the last ten years, rebuilding our balance sheet, exiting non-core and underperforming assets and reinvesting profits in a savvy way. We have made smart, bold decisions by investing in new capabilities and new markets and delivered a series of financially successful acquisitions and post deal integrations.

We have built a culture of excellence, ambition and dynamism, attracted brilliant talent and partners and developed an authentic, trusted and loyal business and brand.

However, I am acutely aware that the pandemic has shaped the way people think about work and their careers. In the dichotomy of great attrition-great attraction, we want to be on the great attraction side. Like many companies, we use annual employee satisfaction surveys to measure how our colleagues are feeling. Despite maintaining an Employee Engagement score of 80 percent, remaining in the top 10 percent of benchmark companies, we didn’t feel it was truly reflective of what we were hearing or seeing as a leadership team. We were concerned that colleagues were getting an inconsistent experience across the group. As a result, we’ve identified how we could improve, to reinforce what we stand for, what we believe in, and what it means to be a people leader at Argus.

These improvements range from more events that bring us together to socialise and connect, to larger and deeply significant initiatives, like pushing our Black Lives Matter and diversity, equity and inclusion agenda. We’re being honest about our focus on eradicating racism and bias, and we’re using real solutions to address it. We understand that by taking our colleagues’ concerns seriously and addressing them in a timely manner, we build a highly engaged team who passionately deliver great experiences to our customers. Our customers who value this relationship, are loyal and place more of their products and services with us which builds sustainable value for our business and our shareholders. It’s a virtuous circle, that starts with a highly engaged team.

So to each and every one of my Argus Family, a heartfelt thank you once again for your passion, compassion, energy, professionalism and commitment. It is you who makes Argus what it is today and each of you who will help us to build the business that we have always dreamed of working for.

To each of our Argus shareholders, thank you for your support and loyalty.