The Nation Newspaper

Category: Insurance

  • ‘Women are better empowered with insurance’

    There is no financial plan that  empowers a woman better than an insurance policy, the Marketing and Customer Executive, Old Mutual, Mrs Alero Ladipo, has said.

    In a statement by the company, Mrs Ladipo said the company commemorates with millions across the world on the International Women’s Day (IWD), a day dedicated to celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women globally.

    According to her, ‘’all genders are equally insured in the insurance space with same expectation in terms of compensation, which allows for a balanced society and further propels women to achieving greater goals.”

    Citing vehicle insurance for instance, Mrs Ladipo added that an insured female car-owner, who is incidentally involved in a road mishap is confident that her insurer will come through for her.

    She knows that with her insurance policy, the damages to a third party will be effectively repaired. She fears no harassment. Mothers who have dreams for their loved ones, irrespective of class or status in the society, can procure a unique savings plan that can help them realise their dreams, but also provide certain guarantees, which ensures that a beneficiary is not short-changed or prevented from reaching an educational goal. Such plans also afford them access to money in case of surprises or other emergencies, she said.

    She stated that Old Mutual is committed to promoting gender parity at all levels just as it is supportive of women in its workforce towards achieving career goals.

    She said: “The organisation in its support for women and the desire for a balanced society, launched the Old Mutual Women’s Network (OWN), a company initiative established to enhance healthy engagement amongst women and to create a mentoring and empowering work environment.

    “We must understand that women are pivotal to societal growth and are an integral part to the success of any unit. As an organisation, we have put adequate policies and processes in place to deepen equal gender participation in decision making at every leadership cadre across the Old Mutual Group. I make bold to say that Old Mutual is a fantastic place for women to work in Nigeria and across our group internationally.

    “We understand that women at all levels add extraordinary value to enterprise; are capable of making smart decisions that can propel wealth creation, hence their contribution to growth has to be in focus in setting strategies and business agenda. I believe that to promote a gender balanced society, the woman must be able to attain financial security like their male counterparts.’’

  • AXA Mansard promotes World School Games

    AXA Mansard, a member of AXA, has sponsored the CIS to the World School Games  in Dubai.

    In a statement, Group Head, Strategy & Marketing of the firm, Mr Kola Oni announced AXA Mansard’s commitment to promoting youth sports, healthy living and development among children.

    He said the World School Games was a three-day international multi-sport competition staged in Dubai and attended by International Schools from across the globe.

    He said: “A minimum of 16 students (eight boys and eight girls) from each school took part in athletics, football and swimming in a bid to accrue the most points and be crowned World Champions. The three-day competition saw CIS Lagos, winning several gold medals amongst others in athletics and swimming. The aim of the games was to create a truly international event that brings together students from all over the world, breaks down social and cultural barriers, and celebrates the talent, diversity and sportsmanship of children from different countries, backgrounds and education systems.

    “We are excited to be a part of this iconic event as we promote youth sports, healthy living and development amongst children through the sponsorship of CIS Lagos to the  World School Games. It is a unique stage for the world’s best young athletes to compete in a fun and competitive event, at truly world class facilities. It was an opportunity for children all over the world to bond and create memories that will last a lifetime, while inspiring kids to become more physically active for a lifetime from an early age. At AXA Mansard, we will continue to be at the forefront of the development of the next generation and look forward to making a difference in the lives of kids, young adults and the community at large.”

    He further stated that AXA Mansard is a member of the AXA Group, the worldwide leader in insurance  with 166,000 employees serving 105 million clients in 62 countries.

    “The AXA Group however, is a worldwide leader in insurance and asset management, with 160,000 employees serving 105 million clients in 62 countries. In 2016, IFRS revenues amounted to Euro 100.2 billion and IFRS underlying earnings to Euro 5.7 billion. AXA had Euro 1,429 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2016.

    The AXA ordinary share is listed on compartment A of Euronext Paris under the ticker symbol CS (ISN FR 0000120628 – Bloomberg: CS FP – Reuters: AXAF.PA).

    ‘’AXA’s American Depository Share is also quoted on the OTC QX platform under the ticker symbol AXAHY,” he noted.

  • Allianz Nigeria gets four-star customer rating

    The Allianz brand in Nigeria is leaving no stone unturned in seeking dominance in the local insurance market, Head of Customer Experience, Allianz Nigeria, Ms Uti Ellu has said.

    In a statement by the company, Ellu said apart from triggering an integrated advertising campaign across many traditional and contemporary platforms, the global insurer is determined to make its impact felt by the insurance consumers they cater for.

    We are ecstatic that in our first full month as Allianz Nigeria, our customers have rated us four-star across different performance metrics, she stated.

    She noted that the firm which was recently launched following acquisition by world leading insurer, Allianz, undertook a strategic audit of the business performance across many customer touchpoints over the last couple of months.

    Group Head of Retail Operations and Client Services of the firm, Tunji Oshiyoye added that their objective was simply to make feedback from our retail customers more intuitive and digital by default.

    He said: “We launched an API that integrates to our insurance suite and generates a link to rate the company following any consumer interaction such as policy inception or claims settlement,” he clarified.

    The customer receives an email prompting them to follow a link and rate their satisfaction level on a 1-5 scale. The aggregated score from the nearly 500 customers that have rated the company puts the company at four stars effectively scoring 80 per cent in customer satisfaction.

    “Whereas we find this very encouraging, we will not rest on our oars,” Ms Ellu enthuses.

    “As one of the world’s most trusted insurance providers, we are duty-bound to provide the highest levels of customer satisfaction possible,” she added.

    She explained that in the coming months, the rating prompter will be tailored to the particular phase of the customer journey in order to elicit very specific and actionable customer feedback.

    “The Allianz Group is one of the world’s leading insurers and asset managers with more than 88 million retail and corporate customers. Headquartered in Germany, Allianz customers benefit from a broad range of Personal and Corporate insurance services, ranging from Property, Life and Health insurance to Assistance services to Credit insurance and Global Business insurance. The Allianz Group is one of the world’s largest investors, managing over 650 billion euros on behalf of its insurance customers, while their asset managers – Allianz Global Investors and PIMCO – manage an additional 1.4 trillion euros of third-party assets. In 2017, over 140,000 employees in more than 70 countries achieved total revenue of 126 billion euros and an operating profit of 11 billion euros for the group,” he added.

  • AXA Mansard celebrates International Women’s Day

    AXA Mansard, a member of AXA, an insurance and asset management firm, has joined women to celebrate the International Women’s Day.

    March  8 is celebrated as International Women’s Day.

    This date is significant in many ways; it is a time to reflect on the progress made on women’s rights as well as celebrate their courage and determination by ordinary women around the world.

    The theme for the International Women’s Day is ‘Think equal, build smart, innovate for change’ and is focused on empowering women for gender parity through innovation, particularly in social protection systems, public service access and sustainable infrastructure.

    AXA Mansard Insurance Plc Chief Executive Officer, Mr Kunle Ahmed said women have become very important in decision making for the purchase of insurance and other financial services.

    He said this is why AXA has developed the SHE (Super Heroes Everyday) initiative.

    Through this initiative, AXA is committed to partnering with women across all groups, sectors and life stages to build a network that can support the growth of their businesses and generally create better lives for themselves and their families, he added.

    He said: “In emerging economies like Nigeria, the number of women in business, women’s purchasing power and their access to higher-level employment is on the increase. Women’s role in the economy is growing as gender differences in labour market participation continues to narrow.

    “As a female entrepreneur, the SHE initiative will help the Nigerian woman manage her risks so that she can take the leap towards financial prosperity. We also practise what we preach. In 2018, AXA launched in Nigeria, its Internal Women’s Network focused on engagement and development of our female staff, who are proudly empowered through several mentoring and support initiatives.

    “Our Super Heroes Everyday are our valuable clients and employees. We will continue to be their trusted partner and we wish every Nigerian woman Happy International Women’s Day and Women’s Month”, he said.

  • African Alliance rebrands

    AFRICAN Alliance Insurance Plc has launched a new identity with potential for stronger growth through innovation and branding.

    The Interim Chairman, Board of Directors, African Alliance Plc, Anthony Okocha, affirmed that the life insurance company   would continue to break new grounds and increase the joy of its  customers.

    He said the rebranding has refreshed their identity to align with their new business strategy.

    The company’s Managing Director, Mrs Funmi Omo, said the great heritage of African Alliance Insurance began almost six decades ago on May 6, 1960 by its founders – Chief S.L. Edu, Mr T. A. Braithwaite and Chief M.E.R. Okorodudu-backed by leading reinsurers and co-shareholders, Munich Reinsurance Company.

    She said: “This year, in line with our strategic direction and focus, we have embarked on a corporate rebranding process including development of a corporate brand strategy, a new brand identity, and new corporate tagline to drive up our impact and success as an organisation.

    “As we turn a new chapter today in our history, we remain true to our core values of accountability, accessibility, integrity, professionalism, loyalty and creativity. We are committed to protecting the future of every Nigerian, and are relentless in our mission to improve the quality of life of our clients while adding value to our shareholders. Our new brand identity consists of these colours –Blue and Grey. Blue represents loyalty, strength, wisdom, trust, technology and stability. While the colour grey stands for friendship, maturity, imagination, sophistication, security, reliability and intelligence”, she added.

  • Insurers need communications strategy, others to boost awareness, says expert

    THERE is need for a communications strategy to boost insurance penetration and acceptance of insurance by Nigerians, an expert has said.

    The expert, Okey Udezue, spoke at a seminar organised by the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) in Lagos.

    The event had as theme “The Nigerian economy 2019: Issues, Challenges and prospects for the insurance industry”

    Udezue said there was no defined communications strategy by the operators.

    He listed other challenges facing the industry to include lack of innovative products and poor integration of technology.

    He said the industry is only just waking up to the enormity of the task confronting it and may have underestimated the level of apathy that the typical Nigerian, particularly those living in rural areas, has towards insurance.

    He stated that the promotion used to create awareness, persuade and reassure the people is key to the marketing mix.

    Should communications strategy be left to individual firms or should some aspects be left to the regulators while the operators focus on various aspects under an integrated marketing platform? he asked.

    He said the industry should note that during the period the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was pursuing a vital communications strategy to actualise cashless banking, individual banks created their own strategies to exploit the opportunity to get many non-customers open accounts with them.

    Another challenge of the industry, he said, is inadequate training and skills of some workers in the industry.

    He said: “The law of natural selling, which states that ‘nobody will spend his money to buy anything unless by so doing he will be better off than before’ points to another issue that is creating a challenge for the industry. Given that the revenue in the profit equation is all about ensuring continuing growth of sales (insurance premiums), the question arises as to whether or not those that actually go out to sell insurance have the necessary training and skills to win over the many skeptical people across the nation, especially those that live outside commercial cities.

    “As marketing gurus would say, selling financial services is different from selling tangible products and requires special skills that go beyond merely presenting and listing features of products to prospects. And because financial services are the same from company to company, the ‘messenger’ (the seller they see) is the one that will make the difference and must be bought before his ‘message’. This means the insurance seller must possess and exhibit skills and techniques for surfacing the non-verbally expressed emotions of the buyer in addition to having great product and industry knowledge. Or else, how can he speak to his priorities?

    “The future of insurance selling calls for a shift from features-oriented marketing to benefits-focused customer engagement. And beyond the need for a general upgrade of selling skills, there are also issues with the dearth of trained actuaries’professionals, underwriting and general brokerage experts. The industry should be concerned that not too many students enrol for insurance-related subjects in the universities. A proactive response may involve working with the universities (NUC) to evolve a strategy to attract more people into these programs. How it responds will be critical for achieving agreed future performance milestones.

    “It is significant that the banking industry, when faced with similar issues and challenges, set up their training academies to equip prospective new hires into their banks with knowledge and skills for preparing them in meeting and dealing with issues and challenges peculiar to provision of banking services to Nigerians.”

    He further stated that the issue of lack of innovative products is one of the top (if not the top) reasons for insurance exclusion challenging the industry. If the growth of revenue in the profit equation is critical for growing the industry, perhaps, this is a good time to single out for industry attention.

    Given the statistics on people living with extreme poverty and the demographic distribution of adults with survival income, the commitment to expand the market for insurance will be frustrated by the absence of innovative products that can be used to tap into the vast untapped market, he noted.

     

     

  • CIIN to change syllabus

    The Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) will start a new professional examination syllabus in October 2021.

    The Chairman, Officers Representatives Committee (ORC) of the institute, Karieren Pius, made this known during at the committee’s monthly meeting held in Lagos.

    Pius said the ORC is a committee of the institute, which comprises of representatives from the arms of the industry, underwriters, brokers, loss adjusters and re-insurers. Their job is to communicate back to their various companies programmes of the institute.

    Addressing the members at the meeting, he said the Governing Council of the institute considered the review of the syllabus to ensure that the institute remained consistent in producing professionals that could stand the test of time.

    He called on workers in the industry who are yet to complete their qualification courses to work hard to do so before the new syllabus will be unveiled.

     

     

  • STI prioritises technology for efficiency

    Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc has prioritised technology for the firm’s growth, its Managing Director Mr. Olaotan Soyinka, has said.

    He made this known in a statement to reporters in Lagos.

    Soyinka, who said the underwriting firm held a retreat in Lagos, stated that more than ever, the firm is set to take optimal advantage of what technology brings to the table in driving operational efficiency.

    He posited that the business model currently being run by the firm is customer-centric as it has been identified that the customer is supreme in the everyday operations of the underwriting firm.

    STI’s Head of Information Communication Technology (ICT), Mr. Lekan Oguntunde added: ‘’Any forward-looking organisation must have real time, cutting-edge technology at the fulcrum of its business operations and that is what Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc has adopted in pushing the frontiers of its operations beyond the shores of the country”.

    He noted that the company has identified that 21st century technology is the hallmark and arrow-head of any successful business.

    He said: “This has informed the company’s adoption of the second-to-none business application software in the insurance industry known as Eskadenia in 2009 with several upgrades over the years to ensure seamless service delivery that will delight the teeming customers of the underwriting firm. The software was developed using an Object-Oriented programming language which was designed to automate the General Insurance policy life cycles of the company’s customers, reduce operational gridlock, enhance job quality, maintain up-to-date historical data on all businesses generated while ensuring high level of customer confidentiality and security.

    “In order to meet all the functional specifications and technical capabilities as required by our customers, all necessary enhancements have been made on the Eskadenia software to accommodate the recent changes and ensure the successful execution of the new business model. We believe that tapping into modern technology can yield plethora of opportunities for any upwardly mobile organisation”.

    The company’s spokesperson, Mr. Segun Bankole, said in furtherance of the implementation of the adopted business model, technology, the social media platforms would be employed in reaching out to the insuring public while at the same time use the medium to sensitise Nigerians both home and abroad on the benefits of taking up an insurance policy with the company.

    STI will continue to provide insurance and financial risk- based management solutions that will strategically position the company as a market leader in the industry and consequently impact on the fortunes of its teeming customers and shareholders alike, he added.

  • CIIN seeks insurance inclusion in Delta secondary schools

    The Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) has solicited the support of the Delta State Government for insurance to be included in secondary schools in the state.

    Its President, Mr. Eddie Efekoha, made the appeal when he led a delegation of the CIIN and the Insurance Industry Consultative Council (IICC) on a courtesy visit to the office of the Governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa.

    He urged the governor to also help solicit support for the creation of faculties of insurance in state-owned tertiary institutions.

    A statement by the CIIN disclosed that the delegation, which was received by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Hon. Ovie Agas, solicited support from the state in helping to promote the industry agenda.

    The statement read: “Efekoha assured the Secretary to the State Government that CIIN and the IICC would equally play an active role in executing these projects. During the visit of the delegation, 500 textbooks entitled, Insurance for Senior Secondary Schools, were donated to the state government for onward distribution to secondary schools in the state.

    “The donation of the books represents a major stride and serves as a landmark in the institute’s quest to groom a new generation of industry leaders. Copies of the textbooks have previously been presented by the institute to the Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Kwara, Edo, Ondo, Rivers, Imo, Osun, Enugu, Ekiti, Kaduna and Kano State Ministries of Education as well as the FCT, while similar presentations have equally been slated for other states in the Federation.

    “All of these are part of our articulated efforts at expanding the capacity of institutions offering insurance programmes thereby guiding them to deliver superior and qualitative insurance education. The promotion of insurance education is not only a key to unlocking the huge potentials of our industry but also a means of opening the doors to the younger generation who represent the insurance practitioners of tomorrow,” he said.

    Hon Agas, who represented Governor Okowa, expressed delight at the gesture from the institute.

    He thanked the CIIN and the IICC for considering Delta worthy place to carry out its insurance awareness.

    He promised the delegation that the message would be taken back to the governor and he was sure that the delegation’s requests would be given serious consideration.

  • NCRIB to publish names of eligible members soon

    The Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) is set to publish the names of its members, its President, Mr. Shola Tinubu, has said.

    He spoke at the February Edition of the Members Evening of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), hosted by Linkage Assurance Plc in Lagos.

    Tinubu said publishing member’s names is part of the council’s statutory responsibilities and they are to do so every year.

    He disclosed that the council would carry out the statutory obligation shortly.

    He observed that past experience has shown that many brokers that failed to meet up with the requirements for the publication often face significant challenges in business due to the attendant negative image that non-inclusion in the list attracts.

    He urged members to regularise their membership with the council’s secretariat without further delay, noting that all NCRIB Certificates are due for renewal every January 1.

    He warned that the members should not wait for the time of regulatory renewal by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).

    Meanwhile, the Managing Director, Linkage Assurance, Mr. Daniel Braie, said the company is financially strong and able to deliver qualitative insurance services that will meet the expectation of customers.

    He stated that the company has increased its capacity to do more volume businesses as evidenced by the increase in its reinsurance treaty across all classes of insurance.

    He said the company’s total assets stood at N23.31 billion at the end of 2017, moving up by 15 percent from N20.33 billion in the previous year.

    He added that the Board and Management of the company were excited to present to the group a competitive brand to partner with.

    Braie told the brokers led by its President Mr Sola Tinubu that Linkage Assurance has strengthened its internal structures to bdeliver quality and efficient services.

    He said: “We have strengthened our internal structures to ensure that claims are handled with speed, because we realise that this is the main reason we are in business, and we will ensure it is sustained. The human capital structure of the company has also been beefed up with the recent appointment of the Executive Director, Technical, among others who are already adding value to our operations and systems, for the benefit of our esteemed customers, he said.

    “We developed array of retail products targeted at deepening penetration and increase revenue. These include the Linkage Third Party Plus, which is a budget friendly motor insurance that provides not only the compulsory Third party protection but an additional Own damage protection to the tune of N250, 000, and is only available in the company.

    “Other products launched by the Company are the Linkage SME Comprehensive, Citadel Shield, which provides compensation as a result of injuries from accident for pupils and students in recognised academic establishments; Linkage Events Xclusive Insurance, Linkage Shop Insurance, Purple Motor Plan (comprehensive motor cover exclusively for women), and the Linkage Estate Insurance. We also deployed its online portal to make its products and services available to customers especially the digital savvy customers and enterprises,” he noted.