The 1st of December 2016 saw the best of the life insurance industry gathered in the Eagle Ballroom at Waters Edge, to celebrate the successful completion of the Life Insurance Awareness Month campaign (held in September 2016), and to recognize and reward the top performers of the program.
Presiding over the award ceremony as chief guest was Mrs. Indrani Sugathadasa, Chairperson of the Insurance Board of Sri Lanka (IBSL), with the Director General of the IBSL, Mrs. Damayanthi Fernando as guest of honor. Also present at the event were Mr. Dirk Pereira, President of the Insurance Association of Sri Lanka (IASL), Mr. Fazal Gafoor, Treasurer of the IASL, Mrs. Surekha Alles, Secretary of the IASL, Mr. Thusitha Nandasiri, President of the Sri Lanka Insurance Institute, Mr. Manjula De Silva, Chairman of the National Insurance Trust Fund and Mr. Samitha Hemachandra, Chairman of the Marketing & Sales Forum (MSF) of the IASL.
In his welcome address, Mr. Dirk Pereira stated that he was pleased to note that the insurance industry in Sri Lanka continues to grow. Mr. Pereira also stated that he was delighted with the results of the Life Insurance Awareness Month campaign. However, he cautioned the gathering that the insurance industry of Sri Lanka still had a long way to go in order to be prepared to face the challenges of the future.
Chief guest, Mrs. Indrani Sugathadasa, graciously acknowledged the hard work of the top 100 performers and commented that the award ceremony will serve as motivation to the other members of the industry. “The sales force is the thread binding insurers and the insured,” she stated, emphasizing the need for further development in the life insurance sales sector.
Mrs. Damayanthi Fernando, guest of honor, congratulated the life insurance sales advisors for their performance throughout the campaign. The Director General also went on to thank the MSF for their hard work and dedication towards ensuring the success of the campaign and the award ceremony.
Mr. Samitha Hemachandra, Chairman of Marketing and Sales Forum of IASL proudly announced that nearly 60,000 life insurance policies had been secured during the month of September. Mr. Hemachandra went on to state that it was vital that an insurance sales advisor maintains a strong relationship with their respective customers.
At the final prize distribution session, Mrs. A. G. P. Kumari of AIA Insurance walked away with the top prize in both the ‘highest number of policies sold’ and ‘premium collected during the campaign period’ categories. The leading companies who produced the highest number of winners in both categories were Ceylinco Life with 41 awards, Union Assurance PLC with 36 and AIA Insurance Lanka with a total of 19 prizes.
