The Institute of Certified Management Accountants (CMA) of Sri Lanka has recognised the 2021 Annual Report of Ceylinco Life as one of the ‘Five Excellent Integrated Reports’ honoured at the recently held CMA Excellence in Integrated Reporting Awards 2022.
Titled ‘Derisking the Nation: Today & Beyond’ the life insurance leader’s latest report presented a concise and relevant account of the company’s operating environment, strategy, performance, value creation, governance, risk management and future outlook, and illustrated how the Company forged ahead with a strong sense of purpose to de-risk the nation in another challenging year.
Covering the operations of the Company from 1st January to 31st December 2021, Ceylinco Life’s annual report also expounded on the progress made on its triple bottom line priorities while outlining its organisational overview, integrated strategy for value creation, stewardship and corporate governance and financial statements, in addition to necessary supplementary information.
These elements in Ceylinco Life’s annual report aligned with the guidelines issued by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) that underpin the preparation of an integrated report. The Guiding Principles include strategic focus and future orientation, connectivity of information, stakeholder relationships, materiality, conciseness, reliability and completeness, and consistency and comparability.
“Integrated reporting has become indispensable to our commitment to transparency across all aspects of the business and assumes even greater importance at times like these, when companies have to respond to myriad challenges,” Ceylinco Life Executive Director/CFO Mr Palitha Jayawardena said. “We are delighted therefore to have our annual report put under the microscope of CMA Sri Lanka, the national professional management accounting institute in Sri Lanka, and to pass the test with flying colours.”
The integrated reports considered at this year’s 8th edition of the Annual Integrated Reporting Awards competition were evaluated using guidelines applicable in the International <IR> Framework issued in December 2013. The evaluation process took into account not only the accounting and financial information but also non-financial information provided in <IR>.
The marking process comprised an initial shortlisting by a technical evaluation panel and a final assessment by a panel of eminent international and local judges chaired by Prof. Ho Yew Kee, Associate Provost – Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and former Professor in Accounting, National University of Singapore. These were followed by interviews with the shortlisted companies.
Notably, Ceylinco Life’s 2020 annual report too was recognised as one of the 10 Best Integrated Reports by CMA and won the joint Silver Award in the ‘Insurance Companies’ category at the CA Sri Lanka awards that recognise the best financial reports produced in the country.
The CMA Excellence in Integrated Reporting Awards competition is organised annually by the Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka. The purpose of the awards programme is to encourage Sri Lankan companies to undertake integrated reporting which will be beneficial to investors and stakeholders.
Adjudged the ‘Most Valuable Life Insurance Brand in Sri Lanka’ by Brand Finance and certified a ‘Great Workplace’ in Sri Lanka for the third consecutive year in 2022, Ceylinco Life was declared Sri Lanka’s Service Brand of the Year by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) in 2021 and won the SLIM Kantar Peoples Award as the Most Popular Life Insurance Company in Sri Lanka for the 16th consecutive year, also in 2021. Ceylinco Life has been the country’s leading life insurer for more than half of the 34 years it has been in existence. Other accolades won in respect of 2021 include the ‘Most Popular Service Provider’ in Sri Lanka’s Life Insurance industry from LMD, the ‘Most Valuable Life Insurance Brand’ in Sri Lanka from Brand Finance, one of the 10 Most Admired Companies in Sri Lanka from the International Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka (ICCSL) in collaboration with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), U.K. and one of the 10 Best Workplaces in Sri Lanka’s Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) sector from Great Place to Work.
Ceylinco Life has close to a million lives covered by active policies and provides innovative life insurance solutions which offer protection while de-risking the goals and ambitions of the Company’s policyholders.