The Insurance Association of Sri Lanka (IASL) conducted its annual Life Insurance Industry Sales Awards for the years 2019 and 2020. This awards ceremony which was held as a virtual event went live on the 1st of September 2021, coinciding with National Insurance Day. The online event was graced by the Chief Guest, Razik Zarook, the Chairman of the Insurance Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (IRCSL) and the Guest of Honour, Damayanthi Fernando, Director General.
Iftikar Ahamed, President IASL sharing his thoughts said “I take this opportunity firstly to congratulate the winners as well those who qualified. This is a platform where you are pitted against the very best insurance sales professionals from across the industry. Being able to receive an accolade here is a remarkable achievement, to say the least. Now more than ever the need for insurance solutions is being felt around the country due to the impact of the ongoing pandemic. In that light, we as the insurance industry are obliged to provide our services that help people mitigate their risks to as great an extent as possible. This is where the insurance advisor plays that ever-important role of conducting a proper need analysis in designing and offering customers the policy that addresses the aspects of risks that they intend to cover. Recognizing these skilled Insurance Sales Professionals was a necessity, with the aim of elevating the confidence of insurance professionals, rewarding them for their endeavours as they raise awareness and propel the insurance industry forward.”
This competition was first conducted in 2018 and the awards ceremony was held as part of the National Forum for Life Insurance Advisors (NAFLIA) held in September 2019. However, with the onset of the pandemic and restrictions on public gatherings, the IASL decided to conduct a virtual event this year to recognise the winners for 2019 as well as 2020.
Sharing his thoughts, Dinesh Yogaratnam, Chairman of the Marketing and Sales Forum (MSF) of the IASL said “Developed as a national platform to recognise the best talent in the Life Insurance Industry, these awards were designed to recognise sales personnel based on their performance during the year with an evaluation of policy persistence taking place in the following year, as well as other qualifying criteria having to be met, thereby fostering sustained new business acquisition and retention within the industry. We had a total of 65 sales personnel, 34 for 2019 and 31 for 2020 being recognised at this event. The MSF took it upon itself to go ahead with this online event on the basis that a physical event would not be possible and we are very encouraged and enthusiastic at the reception and responses received. My heartiest wishes go out to the winners as well as those who qualified”.
The award categories included the Best Agent, Best Team/Unit Leader and the Best Branch Manager awards. These Category Awards were based on a categorization of the company they are attached to, by size, in terms of Gross Written Premium (GWP). As such, the 5 companies that are top five in terms of GWP were classified as Company Category Large, the next five as Medium and the rest as Small. The National Level Winners were awarded from amongst the winners of the Category Awards where the top three received the Gold, Silver and Bronze awards, respectively.