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19th Asia Insurance Industry Awards 2015 - When the stars shine: Brilliance floods Asia

Source: Asia Insurance Review | Dec 2015

Asia’s insurance industry celebrated its very best at the 19th Asia Insurance Industry Awards (AIIA) gala dinner held on 3 November, which honoured the achievements of outstanding industry members in 15 categories. There were over 400 entries for the awards, from which over 40 finalists were selected for a judging process involving a panel of over 20 international judges made up of business leaders and regulators in the insurance industry. 
 
Cheers to all the participants and congratulations to the worthy winners! 
 
More is now expected of them to lead the way in the industry. In the coming pages, we capture what the AIIA means to them and their upcoming plans.
 
Winners of 2015 Asia Insurance Industry Awards (L-R) 
Employer of the Year
Tata AIG General Insurance Company Ltd
 
General Insurance Company of the Year
MSIG Insurance (Malaysia) Bhd
 
Life Reinsurer of the Year 
Munich Re
 
General Reinsurer of the Year
Munich Re 
 
Educational Service Provider of the Year 
Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance
 
Life Insurance Company of the Year
Sun Life of Canada (Philippines) Inc
 
Service Provider of the Year
ReMark International
 
Personality of the Year
Ms Aruno Rajaratnam
 
Lifetime Achievement Award
Mr Chai Sophonpanich
 
Corporate Social Responsibility Award
Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company of Vietnam Ltd
 
Corporate Risk Manager of the Year 
Mr Ryan Tan, SMRT Corporation, Singapore
 
Innovation of the Year
Asian Alliance Insurance PLC
 
Reinsurance Broker of the Year 
Aon Benfield
 
Broker of the Year
Aon
 
Technology Initiative of the Year
AIA Malaysia (Not pictured)
 
AIIA15 Winners
 
Life Insurance Company of the Year  Sun Life of Canada (Philippines) Inc 
AIIA15-Winner of Life Ins Co of the Year
A great 120th year celebration
“This Award is a great ‘icing on the cake’ of our 120th year celebration, which was all about giving back. Sun Life donated 120 classrooms and 120 boats to areas affected by disasters and we launched ‘120 Rays of Giving Back’ where Sun Lifers volunteered for various CSR activities. We also pledged an endowment to the National Museum, another way of giving back to the country that has nurtured us for over a century.
   
We are sharing the Award with all our stakeholders and dedicating the same to them through a series of print ads and a special newsletter to our clients. We will celebrate the Award with our employees during the Christmas Party, making it a double celebration with lots of prizes for everyone.
 
 As Life Insurance Company of the Year, we will continue our advocacy on financial literacy and continue to work with regulators and peers to uplift the industry.”
 
Ms Rizalina Mantaring 
CEO, Sun Life of Canada (Philippines) Inc
 
General Insurance Company of the Year  MSIG Insurance (Malaysia) Bhd
AIIA15-Winner of General Ins Co of the Year
Celebrate, appreciate and go above and beyond

“MSIG celebrates the honour of being General Insurer of the Year with its 1,100+ employees by recognising staff efforts with a ‘celebratory combo’ – a cash award, additional one day leave and a department celebratory lunch/dinner – for each and every staff to celebrate this milestone. 
 
   In addition to communiqués thanking our business partners, service providers and the industry, advertisements in major newspapers and social media will be published to thank our customers for their support in making us where we are today. To further mark the occasion, a commemorative memento will be given as a token of appreciation to our key clients and business partners.
 
   MSIG will continue to strive to serve the General Insurance Association of Malaysia (PIAM) and step up its support towards the professionalism of the industry and consumer education in the anticipated detariffication in Malaysia.”
 
 
 
Mr Chua Seck Guan 
CEO, MSIG Insurance (Malaysia) Bhd
 
Educational Service Provider of the Year  Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance
AIIA15 - Winner of Educational Service Provider
Supporting the industry to embrace lifelong learning
“As winners of Educational Service Provider of the Year, ANZIIF looks forward to promoting the role of education, training and professional development in the professionalism and success of the Asia-Pacific’s insurance industry. We also aim to continue to support the industry to embrace lifelong learning as a part of fulfilling and rewarding insurance career. 
 
   ANZIIF will mark this Award – our 11th title – by celebrating as a team and with our industry partners. This year is a special opportunity to reflect on the role that innovation and collaboration has played in developing the education that helped us to win this recognition. Following from this title, we will augment our work with communities to improve financial literacy and to provide access to information and resources on insurance and risk management.”  
 
 
 
 
Ms Prue Willsford  
CEO, Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance
 
Innovation of the Year  Asian Alliance Insurance PLC
AIIA15 - Winner of Innovation Award
Pursuing excellence via customer-centric innovation
“Asian Alliance Insurance PLC takes great pride in this achievement, which represents an important milestone not only for the company, but for Sri Lanka’s insurance industry too. The coveted Award for the ‘Innovation of the Year’ provides further impetus and motivation in our continuous pursuit of excellence via customer-centric innovation – which we consider to be a topmost priority. 
 
   The global economy – of which the insurance industry is a significant component – is undergoing tremendous transformation due to technological change and digitalisation. In such a scenario, technological innovation is vital for insurers to keep ourselves relevant and to meet the changing needs of our customers. We must embrace the emerging reality that our success and our returns to shareholders depend on innovation. 
 
   Thus, Asia Alliance takes much satisfaction in this recognition for innovation, which reflects our strong alignment with this modern reality.” 
 
 
Mr Iftikar Ahamed
Managing Director, Asian Alliance Insurance PLC
 
Service Provider of the Year  ReMark International
AIIA15 - Winner of Service Provider of the Year
Committed to the industry’s distribution innovations
“As the winner of the Service Provider of the Year Award in 2015, ReMark is more committed than ever to contribute to the industry’s thought leadership and distribution innovations. 
 
   ReMark is planning to launch the next series of its global consumer study in Asia and will host workshops and roundtables with key clients and industry leaders to facilitate in-depth discussions on consumer insights and behavioural trends in Malaysia, Indonesia and China.  We will use these occasions to proudly celebrate our win.  
\
   ReMark has also just agreed to help a leading bancassurance player in SEA to build its mobile app and digital marketing strategy. Due to the player’s leadership position, we believe our effort to help modernise its customer engagement platforms and establish omni-channels will have a profound impact on the rest of industry practitioners.
 
   ReMark will also sponsor three major industry conferences in 2016: Big Data and Analytics in Singapore, Bancassurance in Indonesia and the Takaful Rendezvous in Malaysia.”
 
 
Ms Na Jia 
Managing Director, ReMark Asia, Chief Marketing Officer, ReMark International
 
Broker of the Year  Aon
AIIA15 - Winner of Broker of the Year
Empowering results for clients, colleagues and communities
“Winning the 2015 Broker of the Year award is a huge honour, and we are thrilled to be recognised as the market leader in Asia. As a firm, Aon is united to empower results for clients, colleagues and communities.
 
   For our clients, we bring in-depth knowledge that is tailored for each one’s unique needs. We listen harder to deliver our expertise where clients need it the most. Our innovation around data and analytics is market leading, and we will continue to invest in our Singapore Innovation Centre to generate and incubate ideas that have positive client impact around the world. 
 
   We have celebrated the Award by publicising the news on our website, through press releases, internal announcements and email signatures. The communities in which we serve are of huge importance to Aon. We contributed over 31,000 hours of service during Aon’s Global Service day in 150 cities in 40 countries, and we continue to donate hours to make a positive impact to society.”
 
 
Ms Jane Drummond 
Regional Head of Sales & Marketing, Asia, Aon Risk Solutions 
 
Reinsurance Broker of the Year  Aon Benfield
AIIA15 - Winner of Reinsurance Broker
A victory for our clients, more than for us
“While we are exceptionally proud to win the Award two years in a row, we see this as a victory for our clients more so than for us. Our culture is such that we take a low key approach to celebrating such victories and look to see how we can lift the bar next year for our clients rather than dwell on past wins. 
 
   On the Corporate Social Responsibility front, one exciting project underway is the setting up of an Aon Trust, which will ensure Aon supports the communities in which we operate in a more coordinated way. This will ensure our ability to support these communities is more meaningful.”
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mr Malcolm Steingold 
CEO, Aon Benfield Asia Pacific
 
General Reinsurer of the Year & Life Reinsurer of the Year  Munich Re
AIIA15 - Winner of General Reinsurer AIIA15 - Winner of the Life Reinsurer
Together, we grow with change
“It is an honour for us to be recognised as both General Reinsurer and Life Reinsurer of the Year in the latest Awards. We thank our clients and partners, as well as the judges and the Asia Insurance Review. We also thank all Munich Re staff for their innovative and continuous contribution.
 
   We have been listening to clients, colleagues, independent experts and market researchers. What we have heard tells a compelling story. As individual as your situations are, insurers across Asia Pacific have essential perspectives in common: virtually all are seeking to capture growth opportunities through transforming markets while adapting to regulatory changes at the same time.
 
 
 
   To support our clients and partners in achieving their ambitious goals, we have again strengthened our commitment to the Asia Pacific markets, with our full range of resources, expertise and financial capacity dedicated to the region. 
   Together, we grow with change.” 
 
Ms Claudia Buholzer  
Chief Executive Asia Pacific 
for Greater China, Korea and Southeast Asia, Munich Re
 
Mr Roland Eckl  
Chief Executive Asia Pacific 
for Australia, Japan, India and Indian subcontinent, Munich Re
 
Mr Daniel Cossette  
Head of Asia Pacific (Life), Munich Re
 
Corporate Social Responsibility Award  Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company of Vietnam Ltd
AIIA15 - Winner of Corporate Social Responsibility
Supporting the community in which we live and work
“We are extremely proud and thrilled as it is the second time we have won this prestigious Award. A big thanks to our distinguished judges, clients, staff and agents for giving us this fabulous recognition for our CSR programme. 
 
   This Award not only brings us pride and joy, but also proves that we are heading in the right direction. Apart from a culture of caring about our customers, we also believe that we have a responsibility to support the community in which we live and work and this is a major element of our corporate mission ‘By your side for life’.
 
   Moving forward, we are planning to establish a CSR Foundation, a charitable arm of Dai-ichi Life Vietnam, which is expected to make its debut by early 2016, focusing on four main areas: education, health care, environment and charity support, with the aim of making long-term and sustainable contributions to society.” 
 
 
 
Mr Takashi Fujii  
Chairman, Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company of Vietnam, Limited
 
Technology Initiative of the Year  AIA Malaysia
AIIA15 - Winner of Technology Initiative
Blazing the trail in digital innovation
“Our single-minded focus is on delivering a great experience to our customers. The suite of market-leading mobile applications that we developed has enabled our Life Planners to be more efficient and productive, to better serve our customers. 
 
   We had to overcome significant challenges to get to where we are today, so this Award serves as a huge encouragement for us to continue blazing the trail in digital innovation.”
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mr Eric Chang 
Head of Brand & Digital, AIA Bhd
 
Employer of the Year  Tata AIG General Insurance Company Ltd
AIIA15 - Winner of Employer Award
Doing more through communications
“It is an honour to be recognised as the ‘Employer of the Year’ at the annual Asia Insurance Industry Awards.
 
   Our celebrations commenced once we received the Award - thanks to social media, our team in India was able to view details of the event as it happened and the congratulatory messages starting pouring in.
 
   The news has been shared with our Board of Directors and employees through a company-wide email.
 
   We are creating a ‘POST IT’ board across the company with the Award which both employees and potential applicants can view. We have put up the news on our company’s Intranet and Website and the same will also be flashed on the Tata Group’s Intranet site. The Award will be featured in employees’ email signature.
 
   In the coming days, we aim to do more on the communications front with our staff through meetings, training programmes etc. It has already become an integral part of our employee onboarding process.” 
 
Mr Subramanian Suryanarayanan 
Chief Human Resource Officer, Tata AIG General Insurance Co Ltd
 

 

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