INSURANCE 

Prem Watsa: Insuring The Future

Prem Watsa, founder, chairman and CEO of Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., had embarked on his journey with just $8. The Indian businessman who is called the 'Warren Buffett of Canada' has a net worth of $1.8 billion.

Through hard work and determination, Prem Watsa climbed the ladder of success, eventually attaining the status of the richest Indian in Canada. The billionaire businessman established himself as one of the top business leaders in the country. He was the chairman of Fairfax India since 2015 until recently. He has been replaced by his son Benjamin (Ben) Watsa, who has been appointed as chairman of the company's board effective July 1, 2024. 

Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. (Fairfax), a financial service holding company, operates through its subsidiaries, and undertakes insurance and reinsurance businesses. It provides property and casualty insurance, besides reinsurance products. Also, it offers services, such as investment management, insurance claims management, claims adjusting, and appraisal and loss management services. Fairfax operates its investment management business through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Hamblin Watsa Investment Counsel Ltd. Fairfax, headquartered in Toronto, Canada, has operations in the US, Canada, India, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Sri Lanka and Africa, among others.

Watsa's Childhood and Adolescence 

Prem Watsa was the third of his parents' four children. His father was a teacher of English and Mathematics. He later became the principal of a reputed boys' school in Hyderabad, India. His father's parents died when he was only three. His grandfather, who was a scholar and the first Indian principal of the Basel Mission Theological Seminary, brought him up. He won a scholarship to Basel Mission School, and then availed of a loan to go to a college run by Jesuit missionaries. Being  an upright and tough person, he expected his son to work hard. He gave a lot of importance to studies. Prem Watsa still recalls when he got 90% marks in a test, he asked for an explanation about the other 10% he couldn't secure. His father had significant influence on him. Once his father gave him an invaluable piece of advice: "Work as hard as you can as though everything depends on you. Pray as hard as you can as though everything depends on God."

Although Prem Watsa's parents were not rich, he, along with his brother and two sisters, had the advantage of loving, attentive parents. The parents brought them up on the Christian values of family, honesty and integrity, and doing right. When his father became the vice-principal and then the principal of other schools he later worked, Prem Watsa and his siblings benefitted by receiving free tuition at schools where he served, which were some of the best in India. He adopted his father's drive, grit and competitiveness, and proved to be a top student. Being a traditional Christian family, he was only expected to perform well in his studies and sports and was restricted from attending parties. But he never missed such entertainment, as he himself was interested more in his studies. 

Prem Watsa was good at Mathematics and Chemistry. Taking his father's advice he applied to the highly competitive Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), India's top engineering school. Out of 50,000 applicants, only 1000 were selected, and Watsa was one of them. His years at the university from 1966 to 1971 had been the happiest of his life. Along with studies, he had a keen interest in sports and games. He led IIT's sports teams to their first-ever inter-university championship. During his final year in the university, he met Nalini Loganadhan, whom he married a few years later.

Prem Watsa's older brother by then had married a girl from England and settled in the Canadian city of London, Ontario. Soon he left for Canada to live with his brother and pursue further studies. He left India with only $8 in his pocket. After looking for employment he found a job as a door-to-door salesman selling air-conditioners and furnaces. This funded his MBA at the University of Western Ontario Business School, which later became the Richard Ivey School of Business.

Career And Business 

After earning a Master's degree, Prem Watsa began applying for jobs. He found himself competing with native Canadians for employment. In 1974, Toronto's Confederation Life Insurance offered him a position of investment analyst. John Watson, his manager, became his mentor, and being a fast learner he picked up all investment lessons of Benjamin Graham's value investing.

After nine years with Confederation Life Insurance, Prem Watsa, along with a few partners, set up a successful asset management firm, Hamblin Watsa Investment Counsel Ltd. A year later, in 1985, he organized a group of investors and took over a small Canadian trucking insurance company, with $10 million in premiums. This became the base for Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. With Prema Watsa as its chairman and CEO, Fairfax evolved into a worldwide property and casualty insurance, and reinsurance company operating in more than 100 countries, with $5 billion in premiums.

Fairfax Financial Holdings operates primarily through several subsidiaries, including Allied World, Odyssey Re, Northbridge Financial, Crum & Forster, Verassure Insurance, Onlia Agency Inc., and Zenith Insurance Company. He has been called the "Canadian Warren Buffett." He was awarded the fourth highest civilian award of India, Padma Shri, in January 2020. 

Investments In India

In 2019, Prem Watsa created history when his company, Fairfax India, took a 51% stake in CSB Bank. It was the first time the Reserve Bank of India allowed a foreign investor to hold a majority stake in an Indian lender. Fairfax has investments in around 20 companies in India across sectors, such as banking, chemicals, logistics, finance, travel, and engineering. It built majority holdings in Bangalore International Airport, Fairchem Organics, National Commodities Management Services, and Saurashtra Freight. Fairfax holds a 30% stake in Quess Corp, one of India’s largest private sector employers. Other major investments include a 1% stake in the National Stock Exchange of India, 43% in Sanmar Chemicals Group, 26.1% in brokerage firm, 5Paisa, and 48.5% in Seven Islands Shipping. In 2022, Fairfax acquired the electrical equipment manufacturer, Jaynix Engineering. Digit Insurance is Fairfax’s only startup investment in India. It owns a 49% stake in its parent company, Go Digit Infoworks.

Financials 

Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd's net earnings for the fiscal year 2023, as per company sources, is $4,381.8 million ($173.24 net earnings per diluted share after payment of preferred share dividends) as compared to the fiscal year 2022 net earnings of $3,374.2 million ($131.37 net earnings per diluted share after payment of preferred share dividends). Book value per basic share at December 31, 2023 was $939.65 as compared to $762.28 at December 31, 2022 (an increase of 24.7% adjusted for the $10 per common share dividend paid in the first quarter of 2023).

As per Fairfax management, 2023 was the best year in the company's history, with net earnings of $4.4 billion, producing record adjusted operating income of $3.9 billion (or operating income of $5.7 billion, including the benefit of discounting, net of a risk adjustment on claims) from its property and casualty insurance, and reinsurance operations, which reflects records achieved in its core underwriting performance, interest and dividends of $1.7 billion, and increased favourable results from profit of associates. 

Honourable Positions 

Prem Watsa is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Hospital for Sick Children. Also, he is a member of the Advisory Board for the Richard Ivey School of Business, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Royal Ontario Museum Foundation. He is chairman of the Investment Committee of St. Paul's Anglican Church. In June 2009, he was appointed as the ninth chancellor of the University of Waterloo. In September 2017, he was elected as the first chancellor of Huron University College. In 2023, he became a Member of the Order of Canada. Besides, he was inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame in 2024.

Source Of Inspiration 

Prem Watsa credits much of his success to a positive mental attitude. When he was 21 and was traveling on a train in India, a fellow passenger gave him a book titled, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. He was inspired by reading the book, which was a study of people who had become financially successful. He was particularly motivated by the phrase the book's author had come up with after talking with 500 successful Americans: "What the mind can conceive, the mind can achieve." He later commented in an interview that he was very fortunate to be introduced to that book at such a young age. He claims that the book had transformed him. He recommends the book to young people whenever he meets them.

Prem Watsa defines success at three levels. First, faith is important, which, according to him, is a priority in life being a Christian. Second, he cites the importance of family. He has been married close to four decades and has three children. Third, his success in business. According to him, the most important principle in his company is honesty and integrity, the values that will always be upheld and never compromised.

(Photo: Courtesy Company Site)

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