This article is part of a series sponsored by Britam. 

“The launch of Britam will help us harmonize all our businesses into one company, one brand with a common vision which will help the company communicate in one language without losing our company values.”

- Britam Group Managing Director, Benson Wairegi.

With an increased investment income of over 8000% for the six months to June, 2012 and subsidiaries in several locations including parts of Kenya and Uganda and a corporate umbrella that also covers London, Mauritius and Malta, British-American seems to be on the right track.

The firm, which recently rebranded to Britam, has experienced substantial growth over the past few decades. In 1980, the firm had 29 employees and 50 agents. By 2012, the firm reported that it had over 315 employees and about 1081 agents. This begs the question, who exactly are Britam and why did they change their name?

Who are Britam?

British American Investment Company (Kenya), or Britam, as it is currently known, is a multi-national insurance and asset management organization that was first established in 1920. The company made its Kenyan debut in 1965, growing from a home service-based organization to a financial services provider.

The firm is spear-headed by Benson Wairegi, the Group’s Managing Director, Stephen Wandera, British American Insurance MD and Edwin H. Dande, British American Asset Management MD among other heads of department, including Director’s, Managers, Chief Executives and Accountants.

The financial service provider prides itself with a variety of products including Pensions, Unit Trusts, Investment Planning, Wealth Management, Off Shore Investments, Retirement Planning, Discretionary Portfolio Management and Life, General and Health Insurance. Britam has branches in several parts of the country such as Nairobi, Kisumu, Nakuru, Thika, Mombasa, Eldoret, Meru, Kisii and Nyeri.

Britam reports that, before 2004, it went by the name of British American Insurance Company. At the time, a share swap initiative gave birth to British American Investments Company. This then gave rise to British American Asset Managers Limited.

Britam is now the new brand identity and logo for its subsidiaries, including British American Insurance (Kenya), British American Asset Managers and Britam Insurance Company in Uganda. The Kenyan arm of the company baosts an asset base of over KES 26 billion with a brand equity value of more than KES 6 billion (Based on the revised British American Corporate profile for 2012).

British American Asset Managers is the investment advisory and asset management arm of the organization. The Fund Manager has an asset base exceeding KES 20.4 billion and a list of more than 3275 clients.

It is officially sanctioned by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA). The Fund Manager, which is also licensed by the Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA), was the first company in the market to launch a series of products including the Balanced Fund, the Bond Fund, the Managed Retirement Fund and the Financial Planning approach to investment advice.

“We aim to provide high levels of customer service and innovation,” said Wairegi. Speaking during the launch of the company’s new mortgage product, a few days after the rebrand, he noted that the firm planned to partner with local banks as part of their growth initiative. The move will also enable Britam to provide affordable mortgages to low and middle income earners across the country.

Britam plans to be the most trusted financial services company within its sector. Keep reading Pesatalk to find out more about the company’s transition from Britak to Britam.