23rd November 2022, Colombo: Hassan Kassim, Managing Director of Amana Takaful Insurance has secured the coveted Young Leader Award at the 26th Asia Insurance Industry Awards (AIIA) 2022, held earlier this month. The achievement is an unprecedented feat for Amana Insurance and the Sri Lankan insurance industry as a whole, as Hassan is the only Sri Lankan to have won this Young Leader Award of Asia thus far. Furthermore, this was a rare occurrence, where a Sri Lankan company won an award in this forum after nearly 10 years, and the fact that this was achieved amidst an island wide economic crunch provides great reputational value to both Amana Insurance and Sri Lanka as a whole.
Despite the tough competition among all insurance companies in Asia, Hassan’s application for the Young Leader Award certainly stood out thanks to his significant achievements, which have led Amana Insurance to be the fastest growing insurance company in Sri Lanka since the beginning of 2021. His victory was decided by a Panel of Judges which represents a cross section of the industry including regional and international market leaders, association heads, and regulators.
Hassan Kassim was appointed Managing Director of Amana Takaful Insurance in May 2020 at the relatively young age of 32. He stabilised the company from a crisis in 2020 and put it on a growth trajectory. The company had an average GWP growth of 33% in 2021, during which it also ramped up its market share by 29%. The first three quarters of 2022 too have been extremely positive where Amana Insurance managed to grow its YoY revenue by 42%, 42% and 46% respectively, with the latter being among the largest quarterly YoY growth percentages recorded by the company in the past two years.
Kassim had taken a number of initiatives to optimise the company’s resource utilisation and corporate positioning and has a hands-on approach to the organisation’s operations. He was instrumental in bringing in new blood into the distribution team which acted as a catalyst and significantly contributed to a visible cultural shift within the organisation and its product and service offerings. He was also actively involved with the new-product development team, resulting in the launch of total drive prestige in 2021, a unique motor-insurance solution that ensures 100% claim settlement. This product was the first of its kind in the Sri Lankan industry.
“I am truly honoured to have been able to secure the Young Leader Award at the 26th Annual Asia Insurance Industry Awards 2022. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to everyone who supported me along this transformative journey of Amana Takaful Insurance. This recognition is a testament to all the hard work put in by my team. Our team at Amana Insurance has reached greater heights over the past few years, and has been recognised as the ‘Fastest Growing Insurance Company’ in Sri Lanka. Well done to everyone at Amana Insurance!” said Hassan Kassim, Managing Director and Award Winner of Amana Takaful Insurance.
“We are extremely proud of Hassan’s achievements, and this award is a representation of his efforts. His involvement to transform the company acted as a catalyst for our rapid growth in the recent past. This achievement not only benefitted the reputation of Amana Insurance, but also helped position our nation in a positive light among Asian and Global peers. After this historic victory, we have already started seeing a significant boost to our reputation. I am confident that he will continue to build a company that is closely connected to the hearts of the people – customers, employees and general public – as the building-blocks of insurance, are moulded through strong mutual relationships,” said Shehan Feisal, CEO, Amana Takaful Insurance.
Now that Amana Insurance has been recognised and honoured at an international level, it is expected that the insurer will continue to uplift service standards as well as employee well-being and engagement. The company hopes to put in a place a major focus on digitisation and other digital initiatives to be on par with global industry standards in the near future.