Dirk Pereira, President, Insurance Association of Sri Lanka (IASL) – addressing the gathering 

Panellists for the session on Enhancing Channel Productivity & Efficiency and Evolving a Multi-Channel Strategy: From left to right: Shirish Pathak, CEO, Fintelekt; Anand Pejawar, Executive Director – Marketing, SBI Life Insurance; Chula Hettiarachchi, Chief Operating Officer - Life, Asian Alliance Insurance; Rukman Weeraratne, General Manager - Marketing & Life Distribution, Union Assurance; Shah Rouf, Chief Executive Officer, AIA Insurance Lanka; Indrajit Wikramasinghe, CEO, Union Bank of Colombo; Ian Watts, Senior Vice President and Managing Director – International Operations, LIMRA and LOMA.

The first Fintelekt-LIMRA Summit on Insurance Marketing and Distribution was held at the Taj Samudra, Colombo recently. 

The event was attended by over a hundred key managers from life insurance companies in Sri Lanka, including distribution and sales heads, zonal and regional managers.

The eminent speakers included industry stalwarts such as Dirk Pereira, President, Insurance Association of Sri Lanka (IASL); Manjula De Silva, Chairman, National Insurance Trust Fund (NITF); Rukman Weeraratne, General Manager - Marketing & Distribution, Union Assurance; Indrajit Wikramasinghe, CEO, Union Bank of Colombo; Anand Pejawar - Executive Director -Marketing, SBI Life Insurance India; Chula Hettiarachchi, COO-Life, Asian Alliance; and Shah Rouf, CEO, AIA Lanka.
According to Shirish Pathak, CEO, Fintelekt, “The insurance industry in Sri Lanka is poised for substantial growth and is now looking at ways to increase focus on meeting customer expectations and enhance distribution effectiveness, both of which are critical to industry growth. The objective of the Fintelekt-LIMRA Summit on Marketing and Distribution was to share local, regional and global best practices in areas such as improving agency productivity, moving towards a multi-channel distribution mix, and improving outreach to the under-insured and un-insured population”.

Ian Watts, Senior Vice President and Managing Director – International Operations, LIMRA and LOMA, highlighted that technology is enabling more effective and productive distribution across the globe. He stressed that regulation will keep evolving in the interests of the consumer, and companies will have to be prepared to deal with disruptions that arise out of regulatory change. 

The major takeaway from the interactions during the event was that customer expectations are evolving rapidlydriven largely by technology. 

To meet these expectations, companies will have to think differently. 

This translates into a need to consider innovative strategies, products and service delivery mechanisms. Whether it is in the field of micro-insurance, reaching rural populations, or better hiring and retention practices, innovative approaches will be required to reach the potential for growth in 
the industry.