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SLI declares Rs 930m bonus for 2006:
Growth in local insurance industry
ANJANA SAMARASINGHE
The local insurance industry is growing at a rate of 18 per cent and
the non-life segment showed 25 per cent growth soon after the tsunami,
CEO of Sri Lanka Insurance (SLI), Nalaka Godahewa said.
The growth in the life insurance segment has stagnated due to the
lack of awareness on life insurance among the public.
“There is a huge potential for local insurance companies in this
segment and the industry needs to work collectively to make awareness
among the public. Sri Lanka has an investment culture where people save
money despite their economic condition,” Godahewa said.
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Nalaka Godahewa
Picture by Sumanachandra Ariyawansa |
“Low income levels is not the key issue in poor penetration of life
insurance in the country, he said. “When it comes to insurance, people
do not know about the benefits they could gain through insurance.
Lack of awareness on life insurance is not unique to Sri Lanka. In
developed countries, companies, governments and other organisations
educate public on the importance of insurance.
“Some governments have made it compulsory of have different insurance
categories such as health and business insurance. There should be
assistance from outside of the industry to make awareness among the
public”, Godahewa said.
“Insurance companies too have a huge role to play in educating the
public on benefits of insurance policies. Insurance is a product that
needs to be marketed directly to customers through insurance advisors.
Insurance companies need to uplift the standards of these insurance
advisors to deliver a more effective message to customers. The insurance
industry needs to adopt a much more effective marketing communication
and public relation strategy to address their target audience.
“Sri Lanka Insurance too needs to focus more on educating the public
on insurance, he said.
Meanwhile, SLI has declared a life bonus of Rs. 930 million for 2006.
Godahewa said to declare a significant life bonus an insurance
company requires a matured life fund to break even with the large sum of
expenses incurred yearly but SLI has been successful in expanding the
life fund over the years to the largest in Sri Lanka with the annually
declared bonuses,
“At SLI, the bonus is calculated on the sum assured and based on the
time span of the policy, customers receive tremendous benefits,” he
said. |
