Insurance champions lauded at the 23rd Asia Insurance Industry Awards 2019

Seventeen notable insurance champions emerged as the cream of the crop as they were commended at the highly-prestigious 23rd Asia Insurance Industry Awards 2019 gala dinner last night, held on the sidelines of the 16th Singapore International Reinsurance Conference.

A large majority of those deserving laureates were first-time winners, competing in an extremely tough competition which attracted over 800 entries this year.

As mobile and digital technologies pervade every corner of the insurance sector, it was not a surprise to see many new award winners being credited with solving major industry challenges through the effective use of technology. Most entries received for the awards were also laced with technology gems or were technology driven.

With blockchain poised to disrupt the insurance industry globally, the awards honoured the Hong Kong Federation of Insurers (HKFI) for leveraging blockchain to tackle motor insurance fraud. HKFI was bestowed with the Innovation of the Year Award for its distributed-ledger technology (DLT) platform called the Motor Insurance DLT-based Authentication System (MIDAS) which was jointly developed in collaboration with FinTech firm CryptoBLK.

Acknowledging another remarkable development in the industry, the Technology Initiative of the Year title went to KYOBO Life Insurance Company for its AI-powered underwriting system named BARO (Best Analysis & Rapid Outcome). The system is a first-of-its-kind globally and meets the needs of sales consultants and customers by providing real-time instant underwriting results.

On a more societal level, Digit Insurance was conferred the General Insurance Company of the Year in view of its efforts in accelerating the insurance penetration rate in India through its online presence and processes. Established in 2016, the insurer is one of the youngest winners in this category. Meanwhile, the awards introduced the Health Insurance Company of the Year category for the first time this year in recognition of more insurers playing a significant role in addressing the most critical health-protection needs.

Given its well-known comprehensive wellness programme and achievements in making healthcare accessible for customers, pan-Asian health insurer AIA aced the new category. The insurer’s constant product innovation based on contemporary health trends was highly commended. Previous winners who managed to hold on to their titles despite a tough battle were Marsh Asia and RGA Reinsurance Company. They were the incumbent Broker of the Year and Life Reinsurer of the Year respectively.

This year, the awards also honoured Mr Teddy Hailamsah, an industry veteran and visionary leader who has contributed to the development of the insurance sector in both Indonesia and the wider Asian region. Throughout his career, he has been actively involved in regional insurance groupings including as the secretary general of the Asean Insurance Council for more than a decade.

As the insurance industry improves its diversity and inclusion efforts, another notable individual recognised for her professional accomplishments was Green Delta Insurance Company CEO Farzanah Chowdhury who was conferred the Woman Leader of the Year Award. The category was launched last year and celebrates the crucial contribution that women make to the insurance industry in Asia.

The full list of award winners is as follows:

Life Insurance Company of the Year

Cathay Life Insurance Company

General Insurance Company of the Year

Digit Insurance

Health Insurance Company of the Year

AIA Singapore

Educational Service Provider of the Year

Muang Thai Academy

Innovation of the Year

The Hong Kong Federation of Insurers

Service Provider of the Year

Merimen Group

Corporate Risk Manager of the Year

Mr Alan Choo, Fraser & Neave

Broker of the Year

Marsh Asia

General Reinsurer of the Year

Taiping Reinsurance Company

Life Reinsurer of the Year

RGA Reinsurance Company

Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility Award

Aviva

Technology Initiative of the Year

KYOBO Life Insurance Company

Digital Insurer of the Year

FWD Financial

InsurTech of the Year

PolicyBazaar

Young Leader of the Year

Mr Rohit Nambiar, AXA AFFIN Life Insurance

Woman Leader of the Year

Ms Farzanah Chowdhury, Green Delta Insurance Company

Lifetime Achievement Award

Teddy Hailamsah, Asuransi Central Asia

Asia Insurance Review editor-in-chief Sivam Subramaniam, organiser and host of the awards, said, “I am proud to see the awards now in their 23rd year pushing the industry to greater heights –  and serving as the forum to gauge the direction the industry is moving.  I salute the independent auditors KPMG and the panel of 35 distinguished judges for their conscientious diligence and absolute integrity in the process of selecting the 17 insurance champions. It is now the duty of the winners to bear the burden of celebrating their awards with pride and dignity to drive the industry higher.”

The Asia Insurance Industry Awards this year saw some 50 insurers, brokers, risk managers, service providers and industry leaders making it to the list of finalists out of more than 800 entries.

The awards have become much sought-after recognition of excellence and peer group endorsement for insurance players and professionals in the market. They have been hosted annually since 1997 by Asia Insurance Review, the voice of Asia’s insurance industry, for close to three decades. Sponsors this year include AIG, ANZIIF, Aviva, DXC Technology, HSBC Life, ManageMy, Medix, MSIG, Muang Thai, Munich Re, OPTUM, ReMark, RGA, Swiss Re and Tokio Marine. 

For more information, please visit: www.asiainsurancereview.com/asiaawards

The Judging Panel

AIA group chief strategy and corporate development officer Mark Saunders

Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty Asia Pacific regional CEO Mark Mitchell

AM Best Asia-Pacific (Singapore) co-CEO and board member and commercial director for Asia Pacific Scott Ryrie

ANZIIF CEO Prue Willsford

Aon Reinsurance Solutions Asia CEO George Attard

Aviva Digital global chairman, Aviva Asia and Friends Provident International executive chairman Chris Wei

Bangkok Insurance chairman Chai Sophonpanich

Blue CEO and executive director Charles Hung

DBS Bank managing director, head of insurance coverage Benjamin Yeo

General Insurance Association of Indonesia chairman Dadang Sukresna

GIC Re former chairman-cum-managing director Alice Vaidyan

Guy Carpenter & Co Asia Pacific CEO Tony Gallagher

HSBC Life Hong Kong CEO Edward Moncreiffe

International Insurance Society president and CEO Michael Morrissey

Labuan IBFC CEO Farah Jaafar-Crossby

Life Insurance Association of Malaysia CEO Mark O’Dell

Lloyd’s of London (Asia) CEO Angela Kelly

MSIG Holdings (Asia) regional CEO Alan Wilson

National Insurance Academy director G Srinivasan

NMG Financial Services consulting partner Stephen Collins

Office of Insurance Commission Thailand secretary general Dr Suthiphon Thaveechaiyagarn

PARIMA chairman and IFRIMA vice president Franck Baron

Partner Reinsurance Asia head of Asia P&C/CEO James Beedle

Peak Reinsurance chief risk officer Eckart Roth

QBE Insurance Asia CEO Jason Hammond

Reasuransi Indonesia Utama president/CEO Dr Frans Sahusilawane

Reinsurance Brokers’ Association (Singapore) chairman and Asia Reinsurance Brokers CEO Richard Austen

ReMark International CEO Na Jia

RGA Reinsurance executive vice president and head of Asia Tony Cheng

Risk & Insurance Management Society board member and IKEA China risk management and compliance director Robert Zhang

Singapore Reinsurers’ Association chairman and Validus Reinsurance Asia Pacific CEO and executive VP Marc Haushofer

Swiss Re head of P&C business management Asia and managing director Vivek Kuruvila

The Hong Kong Federation of Insurers former chief executive Peter Tam

Tokio Marine Asia managing director Shinkichi Miki

Willis Re Asia Pacific managing director Mark Morley

Source: Asia Insurance Review