About Our History

Over a Century of Protection

Our History

Colina Insurance Limited is the largest provider of life and health insurance and related financial planning products in The Bahamas. The growth of the Company is a celebration of innovation and acquisition.

Colina traces its roots back to Canadian and American insurance giants: Imperial Life Assurance Company of Canada and the Insurance Company of North America (INA), later known as CIGNA International – the United States’ oldest stockholder-owned insurer. In 1899, Imperial Life Assurance Company of Canada formed it’s Nassau Agency, the first to be created in a territory outside of Canada. In 1965, INA began operations in The Bahamas.

milestones

1997

In 1997, Colina Insurance Company Limited, then owned by Philadelphia-headquartered CIGNA, was purchased by Bahamian-owned INVESCO Ltd, marking the first time in the history of The Bahamas that such a company would be acquired from a multi-national corporation by Bahamians.
2002

Early in the new century (2002), Colina merged with Global Life Assurance Bahamas Limited, an operating insurance company, continuing under the name Colina Insurance Company Limited. Global Bahamas Holdings Limited, a publicly traded company, changed its name to Colina Holdings Bahamas Limited and became registered on the Bahamas International Securities Exchange (BISX) with over 2,600 Bahamian shareholders having an interest in the company.
2004

In 2004, Colina and Desjardins Financial Security announced their agreement for Colina’s acquisition of The Bahamas operations of the century-old Imperial Life Financial. Colina’s acquisition of Canada Life Insurance Company was finalized in November 2004. The Company then earned an A- (Excellent) rating from global insurance ratings, news and financial data provider AM Best Company. A month later, in December 2004, the Bahamian government granted conditional approval for Colina’s acquisition of Imperial Life.
2005

In May of 2005, Colina and Imperial Life merged and unveiled a new name, ColinaImperial Insurance Ltd. It would become the largest life and health insurer in The Bahamas.
2009

In 2009, the Company made a strategic move to rebrand itself as Colina Insurance Limited, recapturing a name that already resonated with clients and the public and which would unify the products and services of the Company under one umbrella.