PruBSN's new CEO

Azim Mithani will soon become the CEO of Prudential BSN Takaful.

Earlier post: More actuaries are becoming CEOs

Source: The Star

New CEO for TM Asia Life

Kenneth Wong has been appointed as the CEO for TM Asia Life Malaysia.

Earlier posts:

• Kenneth Wong leaving BNM
• More actuaries are becoming CEOs

Source: The Star

Loke's appointment approved

Loke Kah Meng's appointment as CEO of AXA Affin Life has been approved by BNM.

Earlier posts: 1 & 2

Source: Business Times

No news is good news

Not much insurance news these few days. The Star published news on Loke Kah Meng joining Axa Affin Life as CEO, a news that is 2-month old to our blog readers.

Source: The Star

More actuaries are becoming CEOs

Lately we have seen a few actuaries who have been made CEO in the Malaysian market. Based on our knowledge, currently (or in the near future):

• 4 out of 15 conventional life insurance companies CEOs are actuaries
• 2 out of 8 takaful CEOs are actuaries

In the 90's, there were also quite a number of CEOs who were actuaries. In late 90's and early 2000 however, marketing/agency/sales people were the favourite pick for CEO. The trend has since reversed partly due to the introduction of RBC which requires the chieftains to be well versed in risk and capital management.

Increasingly there are also more actuaries who become CFOs.

Source: TAS

Charlie's interview with press

Prudential's CEO Charlie E. Oropeza was interviewed by The Star. Some of the points mentioned in the interview:

• Liberalisation: widen penetration, greater competition, encourage innovation
• Bancassurance: complementary rather than competing
• Consumer awareness on importance of insurance still has room to improve
• Prudential's strategy on agency force: solutions providers, not product pushers

Source: The Star

HLA has new CEO

HLA has promoted Loh Guat Lan from COO to CEO, replacing Charlie Oropeza who has earlier joined Prudential Malaysia as CEO.

Guat Lan is believed to be the 2nd lady CEO in life insurance industry in Malaysia after Dr Nirmala.

Statistics on HLA:

• Gross premium growth: 17.8% (FY 6/08 to FY 6/09)
• NB growth (CY 07 to CY 08)
• Regular premium: 41.7%
• Total premium: 17.7%

Source: Business Times, The Edge

Charlie's appointment approved

Charlie Oropeza's appointment as CEO of Prudential has been approved by BNM on 11 August 2009.

Earlier post: Charlie to become Prudential's CEO

Source: Business Times

Uni.Asia General new CEO

Uni.Asia General is tipped to have a new CEO, and the candidate is tipped to be David Tan from MAA. David is currently the EVP for General Corporate Client and Schemes for MAA.

Information on Uni.Asia General:

• Gross Premiums: RM410.4 mil (FY09) vs RM349.5 mil (FY08), growth: 17.4%
• Market share: 3.7%
• Rank: 10th
• Pre-tax loss: RM5.8 mil (FY09), pre-tax profit: RM24.1 mil (FY08)

Earlier posts: Uni.Asia General CEO resigns, New COO for Uni.Asia General

Source: The Star

Axa Affin Life to have a new CEO

Loke Kah Meng (pic) is tipped to be the next CEO of Axa Affin Life Insurance in Malaysia. He is due to report to work in early August.

It is learned that Loke's physical last day with Great Eastern was yesterday.

Loke was the EVP of Customer Management and Chief Marketing Officer at Great Eastern. He was heavily involved in the Centennial Campaign at Great Eastern when Great Eastern celebrated its 100th year anniversary last year.

A Fellow of Society of Actuaries, Loke worked in AIA as appointed actuary and Manulife as CFO and appointed actuary prior to joining Great Eastern.

Source: TAS Blogger

Charlie to become Prudential's CEO

HLA's group MD & CEO Charlie E. Oropeza is tipped to be Prudential's next CEO. Charlie's last day with HLA is believed to be at the end of May.

Prior to joining HLA on 11/7/2007, Charlie was the CEO of Prudential Vietnam and Indonesia.

Source: The Star

Resignation of 3 CEOs

3 insurance CEOs have recently resigned:

• Cliff Lee, Tahan Insurance Malaysia Bhd
• Vincent Kwo, AXA Affin Life Assurance
• Mohd Fauzi Yaakub, Uni.Asia General Insurance Bhd

Cliff Lee was also PIAM's chairman previously. The position has been taken over by the then deputy chairman Mohd Yusof Idris, CEO of Oriental Capital Insurance Bhd.

Some industry statistics:

• Gross premiums for GI: RM11.32 bil (2008) vs RM10.45 bil (2007), growth rate: 8.37%
• NB premiums for Life: RM7.13 bil (2008) vs RM7.6 bil (2007), growth rate: -6.2%

Source: The Star

CIMB Aviva's new CEOs

Life: Kevin Jones
Takaful: Muhammad Fikri Mohamad Rawi

Kevin joined CIMB Aviva in August 2008 and was the COO.

Muhammad Fikri joined CIMB Aviva in 2006.

Source: Business Times

Prudential's CEO resigns

Prudential's CEO in Malaysia, Bill Lisle has jumped ship to become a regional director with Aviva Asia.

Bill became Prudential's CEO in April 2008.

Source: Business Times

HLTMT names new CEO

Hong Leong Tokio Marine Takaful has appointed Abdul Latiff Abu Bakar as its new CEO.

Source: Business Times

MSIG Keen on M&A

MSIG Insurance (M) Bhd is keen to pursue M&A strategy in Malaysia. The company acquired Aviva Insurance Bhd 2 years ago and does not rule out further acquisitions.

Other information on MSIG:

• No. 1 market share in marine cargo insurance (22.2%)
• No. 1 market share in Fire insurance (10.6%)
• Distribution channels: agency (35%), direct business (23%), motor business (14%), broker business (9%), bancassurance (7%)
• Gross premiums: RM710 mil (2007), RM702 mil (2006)

The current CEO, Song Yam Lim, will retire end of the year and Executive Director, Kenichi Fukuhara, will take over as the new CEO effective 1 Jan 2009.

Source: The Star

Ng Keng Hooi Joins Great Eastern

Prudential's former chairman for Malaysia Ng Keng Hooi has taken up a new role in Great Eastern Singapore as the group CEO effective 1 December 2008. He took over from Tan Beng Lee, 65, who retired recently.

Source: The Star

Manulife's CEO Resigns

Peter Robertson, the CEO of Manulife Insurance (Malaysia) Berhad, has resigned and he would leave the company on 11 November 2008.

Peter joined Manulife in 2006. He is an actuary (Fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries) by training.

Source: Bursa

Lonpac's New CEO

Tan Kok Guan is the new CEO of Lonpac Insurance Bhd, effective April 9, replacing Tee Choon Yeow. Tee will remain the CEO of LPI Capital Bhd.

Source: The Star

Prudential's New CEO

William (Bill) Lisle will be Prudential Assurance Malaysia Bhd (PAMB) new CEO by end of April, apparently pending BNM's approval.

Bill will replace Tan Kar Hor who has been transferred to head Prudential Group's China life insurance business.

3 years ago, Bill was PAMB's general manager of business distribution.

Source: Business Times

MNRB's New Group CEO

Anuar Mohd Hassan (pictured) has been appointed new President and Group CEO of MNRB. He was previously President & CEO of Malaysian Reinsurance Bhd, a subsidiary of MNRB.

Meanwhile, Hashim Harun, formerly CEO of Uni.Asia General Insurance Bhd, has taken over as the President & CEO of Malaysian Reinsurance Bhd.

Both appointments take effect on 1 April 2008.

http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/Tuesday/BizBriefs/mnrb31.xml/Article/

First Lady CEO in Insurance

Today's Sin Chew Daily runs a special feature article on the 1st lady CEO in insurance industry in Malaysia - Dr Nirmala Menon of ING Insurance Bhd.

Dr Nirmala joined the industry in 1991, after serving as a physician in a government hospital for 9 years. She joined the insurance industry to strike a better balance between work and family. She started her insurance career with the then Aetna (now ING) in the underwriting department.

Other points covered in the special feature article are:

• Insurance industry needs more employees with medical background, especially with the increasing importance of critical illness products.



• Male and female managers have their strengths and weaknesses. Gender itself does not determine whether a person is a good or bad manager.



• A strong agency distribution is still key to an insurance company. With increased competition, alternative channels such as bancassurance would need to be developed.



• Agents must continue to enhance their skills and knowledge through CPD.



• ING is interested in takaful business and will use Malaysia as a base to move to other countries.



• ING is not interested in general insurance as the market is already very crowded.



• The insurance penetration rate in Malaysia is highest for Chinese, followed by Malay and then Indian. However, the importance and potential of the Chinese market cannot be ignored.



• EPF saving is not sufficient for retirement. With the increase in life expectancy and the number of middle income earners, the importance of wealth management for this sector cannot be understated.

HSBC Amanah Takaful CEO Leaving

According to a reliable source, HSBC Amanah Takaful CEO, Keith Driver, is leaving Malaysia. It is said that he is heading for India.

It is still unclear who will succeed Keith as the new CEO.

Keith came to Kuala Lumpur to start HSBC Amanah Takaful in early 2006, after a new takaful license was awarded to the joint consortium of HSBC Insurance, EPF and Jerneh.