Held under the theme, “Life Insurance – Assuring Tomorrow’s Dreams Today”, the National Forum for Life Insurance Advisors (NAFLIA) 2019, concluded recently in Colombo for the 10th consecutive year. Annually organized by the Marketing & Sales Forum (MSF) of the Insurance Association of Sri Lanka (IASL) in a bid to support the development of the Life Insurance sector in the country, NAFLIA remains the premier event for Life Insurance Advisors in Sri Lanka.
This decennial forum marked a special occasion for the Insurance Advisors in the country, and was celebrated as a gala feast where they proudly reminisced on all the milestones reached as a collective body. “A decade ago, NAFLIA was founded to facilitate the need for a knowledge platform to continuously update the Life Insurance Advisors on new developments in the field, ensuring that the industry is on par with emerging trends of professional developments displayed by the other industry sectors; today, at this important 10-year milestone, NAFLIA boasts a robust national platform for knowledge sharing between industry and academic experts for the advancement of the Insurance Advisors”, stated Mr. Gehan Rajapakse, the President of the IASL.
Delivering the Keynote Speech at the event, Partner – Sensei International and Managing Director of Sensei Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, Mr. Ranjan De Silva, emphasized on the fact that selling is an act of love and generosity, since love is extending oneself for the growth of others, as well as his/her self, even when it is inconvenient. “Selling is a noble profession and Life Insurance Advisors make it even more nobler,” he said.
The Chief Guest, the Head of the Department of Marketing Management, University of Kelaniya, Dr. Ajith Medis, highlighted that the penetration rates of both life insurance and general insurance can be further improved by increasing the awareness of the people about the insurance industry and by enhancing the trust as well as the perception of the skill levels of sales executives.
The Life Insurance Industry Sales Awards 2018 was a highlight of the event, where stellar performers from the industry were recognized for their achievements. A total of thirty-six accolades, culminating in three National Level Awards for the Best Advisor, Best Unit / Team Leader and Best Branch Manager were presented. At the event, the importance of National Insurance Day that falls on the 1st of September was also recognized by the gathered. The event also included an MDRT experience zone, where the top MDRT champions in the industry shared their winning approaches with the Life Insurance Advisors and other industry notables present.
The event was graced by many notables in the industry, including the President of the IASL, Mr. Gehan Rajapakse, Vice President of the IASL, Mr. Jude Fernando, Secretary of the IASL, Mr. Iftikar Ahamed, Treasurer of the IASL, Mr. Chandana Aluthgama, Secretary General of the IASL, Mr. Upali Samarasinghe, Immediate past Chairman of the Marketing and Sales Forum (MSF), Mr. Hashra Weerawardena, Chairman of the MSF, Mr. Dinesh Yogaratnam and Project Chairman of NAFLIA, Mr. Madawa Gunaratna.
During the celebrations, special tokens of appreciation were awarded to recognize the invaluable contributions of the chairpersons who led the MSF and NAFLIA.
The participants at the event included Directors and Assistant Directors of the Insurance Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka, as well as Managing Directors, Chief Executive Officers, General Managers, Managers, Executives and Life Insurance Advisors of leading Insurance companies in Sri Lanka. This 10th anniversary installation of NAFLIA proved to be especially successful with several discourses on the aspects required to further the professional development and capacity development of Insurance Advisors.
