Robert Le Hunte has a reputation for taking businesses to the next level.
His experience in banking, insurance and management has taken him all over the world, where he took the wheel of companies that were either looking to make a change in the way they operated or a change in their level of performance, and within years there was a turnaround or expansion.
That skill will come in handy for the former Minister of Public Utilities in his new role as managing director of Ansa Bank, which was renamed after the Ansa McAl group acquired the local branch of the Bank of Baroda.
How?
Well, Le Hunte has a formula which he has used in his lengthy career in the private sector – one that could turn a parlour into a mini-mart and a sou-sou into a money-lending business.
The formula is simple. Le Hunte says any business can be grown by answering three questions: what is your proposition, what is your plan and who are the people that will help you execute it?
The formula – proposition, plan and people
“You have to know what your value proposition is,” Le Hunte said. “What do you propose to offer to your clientele?”
He said businesses have to know what differentiates them from the others.
Businesses need a plan. They need to know where they are, where they plan to be in the future and how they plan to get there.
But most importantly, they need skilled and talented people to take the business to the next level.
“I am one that always supports surrounding oneself with the right people,” Le Hunte said. “I don’t know it all. It is important to have bright people around you who will always be able to help you execute your goals.”
Bank of Baroda was run as a small bank with a small footprint. Le Hunte said Ansa plans to be a disruptor in the banking industry. What would make it different, he said, would be how it reaches its customers – using technology.
[caption id="attachment_889393" align="alignnone" width="683"] In this photo taken on April 5, the new Ansa Bank sign is unveiled at the St James St, San Fernando branch. - Jeff K. Mayers[/caption]
He said while the customers are the same – individuals, commercial institutions, mortgage-holders and so on – the bank's approach will be different.
“Our goal is to create the first real digital bank.
"Digital banks differentiate themselves from the other banks in the type of experience that they provide for the customer and the way in which they interact with their customers.”
This means that as a digital representation of a customer-based business, Ansa Bank will need people who are comfortable with technology, but still capable of treating customers in the way they deserve.
He also has the support of Ansa Merchant Bank, which has already tasked them to oversee a roster of customers.
A history of service
As far as managing banks is concerned, this is not Le Hunte’s first time at the rodeo. He's enhanced and developed businesses for their own benefit and the benefit of the consumers they serve.
Early in his career, he said, he was a manager for ban
