History
Guardian Holdings Limited started in 1847 when Standard Life of Edinburgh, Scotland entered the market and started a branch office in Trinidad and Tobago. Over time, Standard Life of Edinburgh closed operations and merged its Trinidad and Tobago portfolio with the portfolio of Jamaica Mutual Life Assurance Society on the 15th November, 1972.
Guardian Life of The Caribbean Limited was formed from this merger when the need for insurance companies to localise their operations came about, and this company was then incorporated on 30 December 1980 and registered under the provisions of Insurance Act, 1980.
The company expanded over the years with the acquisition of majority shareholding in Crown Life (Caribbean) Limited in 1990, which was later merged with the operations of Guardian Life of The Caribbean Limited in January 1993. Through this acquisition, Guardian Holdings Limited was able to enter the Dutch Caribbean market of Curaçao and Aruba.
Guardian Holdings Limited was then able to establish Guardian Life Limited in Jamaica in 1999, which followed the acquisition of the individual life and pension portfolios of Jamaica Mutual, Crown Eagle, Dyoll Life, and Horizon Life. The expansion into Jamaica continued with Guardian Holdings Limited acquiring the West Indies Alliance Insurance Company in 2001. Guardian Holdings Limited later acquired The Caribbean Home Insurance Company and following this, were able to merge the operations of the Trinidad and Tobago market and rebrand as Guardian General Insurance Limited, with the legal amalgamation of NEMWIL and Guardian General Insurance Limited in 2007.
Air Jamaica was the national airline of Jamaica. It was owned and operated by Caribbean Airlines from May 2011 until the cessation of operations in 2015. Caribbean Airlines Limited, headquartered in Piarco, Trinidad and Tobago, had administrative offices for Air Jamaica located at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica.
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