Joe Issa Joins Board of National Insurance Fund

Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Ocho Rios businessman Joe Issa, has been called to serve on the 12-member Board of Directors of the National Insurance Fund (NIF).

Issa’s academic and business achievements are believed to be behind the appointment to strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of the NIF, which was established under section 39 of the National Insurance Act.

As a Director of The National Insurance Board, an investment advisory board which has existed since 1990 to manage the investments of the NIF, Issa is said to bring expertise in key areas of the Fund’s operation including accounting, banking, investment, finance, real estate and some experience in legal affairs and the social sector as a civic leader.

He is also believed to be capable of serving on any of the Board’s audit, investment and real estate subcommittees. Issa’s well-known integrity and commitment are also said to auger well for the Board’s role in working closely with the investment secretariat located within the Ministry of Labour, in making recommendations to the Minister of Finance who, under the National Insurance Act has ultimate financial responsibility for the NIF. Based on Issa’s accounting prowess he is believed to be well place to assist in the discharge of one of the most important responsibilities of the Board, which is to ensure good financial management reflected in the annually-audited financial statements. According to Wikipedia, Issa attended College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA, where he pursued an accountancy degree, which included one year at the London School of Economics (LSE) in the United Kingdom. He graduated in 1988 and Valedictorian Cum Laude with a number of awards, including the youngest resident Jamaican to become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). His enormous and credible success in building his Cool brand of companies that cut across several sectors of the economy and which are being leveraged globally will enhance the Board’s capability to protect the integrity of the Fund, adopt a positive and vigorous investment policy and diversify its asset holdings. The Fund has a portfolio mix that includes money market instruments, equity and real estate, with which Issa is experienced as, in addition to his own investment successes, he has served on the Board of Directors of several large companies which include Supreme Ventures and First Global Bank. Based on his vast investment experience, Issa is said to be well equipped to assist in a number of money market instruments which the NIF currently holds, including GOJ local registered stock (LRS), investment debentures, foreign currency bonds and deposits, GOJ land and infrastructure bonds, and short-term money market investments, as well as in equities �" listed and unlisted shares and unit trusts �" and real estate �" commercial, resort and residential properties. The NIF is funded by National Insurance Contributions and is the source from which pensions and other benefits under the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) are paid, according to the NIF website.