Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. announced today that it has signed an agreement to sell its Caribbean block of business to Sagicor Capital Life Insurance Co. Ltd. The deal is subject to Caribbean regulatory approvals.

The block is primarily made up of individual life insurance. It contains some 9,500 policies and generates annual premium income of close to $9 million.

The block of business in was previously owned by The National Life Assurance Co. of Canada, an Industrial Alliance subsidiary whose operations were integrated with those of the parent company in 2005. The related products have been distributed for over 40 years by a network of regional general agents, most of whom are based in Curaçao, Aruba and the Cayman Islands.

The block of business is peripheral to the core North American market of Industrial Alliance, and represents less than 0.3% of the company’s premium income.

Sagicor Capital Life is a subsidiary of the Barbados company Sagicor Life Inc. whose parent company is Sagicor Financial Corp.

Sagicor Financial’s main business is life insurance and financial services and its origins date back to 1840. Sagicor distributes its products and services in several Caribbean islands, as well as the United States. As at December 31, 2005, Sagicor had consolidated assets of $3.7 billion (Canadian).

The A.M. Best rating agency has assigned Sagicor Capital Life Insurance Co. Ltd. and its parent company A (Excellent) ratings for their financial strength, the same rating as Industrial Alliance.