6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021 - The Winners

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6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021 - The Winners
6th Asia Trusted Life Agents &
           Advisers Awards 2021

                The Winners

                              Organisers

Co-Organiser   Strategic Partner           Sponsors
6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021 - The Winners
Organisers

Co-Organiser                          Strategic Partner

                      Sponsors

               Supporting Organisations
6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021 - The Winners
CONTENTS

2
Messages
                          20
                          Employee Benefits
                                                           28
                                                           Insurance Agent
                          Consultant of the Year           of the Year

6
The Judges
                          21
                          InsurTech of the Year
                                                           30
                                                           Young Executive
                                                           of the Year

15
Rookie Insurance Agent
                          22
                          Digital Transformation
                                                           31
                                                           Insurance Company
of the Year               of the Year                      of the Year

16
Rookie Insurance Agency
                          24
                          Employee Benefits
                                                           32
                                                           Executive Champion
Leader of the Year        Provider of the Year             of the Year

17
Financial Adviser
                          25
                          Inspirational Leader
                                                           34
                                                           Partners
of the Year               of the Year

18
Bank Partner
                          26
                          Insurance Agency
                                                           38
                                                           The Finalists
of the Year               Leader of the Year

19
Digital Agent
                          27
                          Lifetime Achievement
of the Year               Award
                               6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021   v1
6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021 - The Winners
MESSAGE – PATRON

Going the extra mile

A
            s the founding patron         As the world shifts its focus to        finalists, and thank them for their
            of the Asia Trusted           repairing, rebuilding and re-           commitment to the industry, and the
            Life Agents & Advisers        energising economies, the role of       immense contribution they make to
            Awards, it is a great         financial services has never been       customers and to the communities
pleasure to see these awards enter        more critical. Insurance is central     in which we work and live. I would
their sixth year, particularly in these   to this due to, among other things,     also like to acknowledge the
challenging times.                        the requirement for long-term           prestigious panel of judges for their
                                          capital and the need to manage          hard work and the tough decisions
COVID-19 has brought the world            new kinds of risk. The last year has    required to select the winners who
together with a common focus –            demonstrated the tenacity and           will be revealed tonight.
health and wellness. As this virtual      agility of the insurance industry
awards ceremony demonstrates,             to overcome unprecedented               My thanks to Asia Insurance
agents and advisers are accessing         challenges. So, it is even more         Review and Asia Advisers Network
new products, digital solutions           important we recognise and              for continuing to recognise and
and thinking outside of the box to        celebrate the significant work and      celebrate excellence.
ensure the wellbeing of their clients.    contribution of agents and advisers
I am delighted to see how agents                                                  And finally, hearty congratulations to
                                          who are pushing the boundaries of       Asia Insurance Review for reaching
and advisers are helping their clients    excellence in the “new normal”.
to live healthier lives by embracing                                              their 30th anniversary milestone
technology and innovation to              In a particularly challenging year, I   of serving the market. It is a great
increase coverage and help to close       would like to congratulate all our      achievement.
the protection gap.

                                                                                           Mark Tucker
                                                                                           Group Chairman,
                                                                                                HSBC

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6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021 - The Winners
MESSAGE – ORGANISER

Saluting the industry agents

O
            n behalf of Asia Advisers   This is the second year we are          we received some 280 entries from
            Network and Asia            hosting the awards as a virtual         over 60 companies in 17 markets.
            Insurance Review, we are    presentation ceremony. We               The awards are highly sought after
            so proud to be hosting      are determined to showcase              and the toughest trophies to bag.
the 6th Asia Trusted Life Agents        these heroes, their courage and         So everyone is a winner in our eyes
and Advisers Awards (the awards).       commitment to the cause. It is the      and you are truly respected as the
Especially during this continued        X-factor and persistence of these       soldiers of the insurance industry.
pandemic which has pained the           agents and advisers that make them
world for over a year, it is indeed     stand out and in turn, promote the      We hope you stand tall and be
encouraging to see how agents and       value of insurance.                     proud of your achievements. We
advisers have continued to service                                              cannot wait to see you breaking the
their clients despite the challenges,   To be part of this noble process        ceiling to be even better in your
despite the lockdowns and think         of recognising them is indeed           journey from here. The industry
‘outside the box’ to ensure their       humbling for us. We thank the           depends on you.
commitment is unfazed.                  distinguished panel of judges,
                                        without whom the awards would not       We salute all of you and wish you
The role agents and advisers            hold its prestige. The transparent      the very best in what we hope will
play in the insurance value chain       and legitimate process remains the      be a post-COVID world.
is now even more crucial, given         fortress of strength of the awards,     All the best and stay safe.
the devastating toll of COVID-19.       with EY as the independent auditor.
The need for insurance is now           We are truly grateful for the support
even more important and despite         of our patron Mark Tucker, our
tighter wallets and the recessionary    strategic partner AIA as well as
climate, agents have continued full     our sponsors, Allianz and Union
steam ahead to ensure clients are       Insurance for their support, not to
protected.                              mention our co-organiser LIMRA.

We salute and congratulate all of       We applaud every nominee for
them for going the extra mile and       their guts to stand forth and be
for their tenacity.                     counted. Despite the pandemic,

                                                                                      Sheela Suppiah
                                                                                              CEO
                                                                                    Asia Insurance Review,
                                                                                Middle East Insurance Review &
                                                                                    Asia Advisers Network

                                                 6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021          v3
6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021 - The Winners
MESSAGE – CO-ORGANISER

Congratulations to the ambassadors
of the industry

I
  extend my most sincere                 clients and our industry. Leaders        As we begin to emerge from one
  congratulations to all of you! The     like you shape the evolution of our      of the most trying crises our world
  individuals and organisations          business, and you should be so           has ever faced, I feel great hope
  recognised today are outstanding       proud of all you have achieved.          and optimism for our future. More
ambassadors for the financial                                                     than ever, the value of our industry’s
services industry – demonstrating        In reflecting on the past year and       honourable mission is clear. I know
the highest levels of professionalism,   the unimaginable challenges it           you will continue to give individuals,
knowledge, and commitment.               presented, I believe that one            families, and businesses a powerful
                                         consistent theme is how much             sense of financial security. I know
LIMRA is honoured to take part in        stronger we all are when we work         you will continue to help people
celebrating the best and brightest       together. Partnership is the key         when they need you most. And I
financial professionals in Asia at       concept that comes to mind, and          know, in the spirit of partnership,
the 6th Asia Trusted Life Agents         it will remain critical to our shared    together we all will create and
& Advisers Awards ceremony. Our          success. It is a valuable foundation     experience a brighter tomorrow.
mission is to advance the financial      in many contexts.
services industry by empowering our                                               Thank you for the important work
members with knowledge, insights,        For instance, LIMRA is extremely         you do each day. And once again,
connections, and solutions. A key        pleased to partner with Asia             congratulations!
element of this mission, through         Insurance Review in outstanding
events like this, is to ensure we        events such as these awards. We also
applaud those of you who are truly       take seriously the strong partnerships
leading this advancement.                we have built with our member
                                         companies around the globe. And
Winning this award shows that            certainly, consumers need trusted
you have done the difficult and          partnerships with their agents and
admirable work of earning your           advisers more than ever before.
clients’ trust. You play an essential    Through all of these relationships, we
role in helping them protect their       have persevered not only to survive,
families, making contributions that      but also to navigate to a better
have a positive impact on your           position moving forward.

                                                                                        Paul Arrowsmith
                                                                                              President,
                                                                                       International Operations
                                                                                     LIMRA, LOMA, and LL Global

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6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021 - The Winners
MESSAGE – STRATEGIC PARTNER

Transforming into a lifelong partner
and adviser

I
 would like to congratulate all the     experience being hyper-relevant        I am positive that with your hard
 agents and advisers that have          and each recommendation being          work and with the execution
 been recognised at the Asia            highly personalised.                   of new technologies, we will
 Trusted Life Agents & Advisers                                                engage, monetise, and retain
                                        Gone are the days when agents and
Awards 2021.                                                                   new generations of digitally savvy
                                        advisers could sell a pre-packaged
                                                                               customers for decades to come.
I am extremely proud of how you         policy and then move on to the
have responded to the ongoing           next sales lead. Today, customers      Once again, congratulations to
pandemic, including adopting            demand a partner to be with            all the nominees and the winners.
digital technologies, to provide        them at every stage of their health    Let’s continue to fight hard for our
peace of mind to our customers          journey: predict, prevent, diagnose,   communities and serve millions
when they needed us the most. It is     treat and recover.                     more people across Asia.
this professionalism, dedication, and
                                        Leading multinational technology
resilience during these challenging
                                        companies took advantage of the
times that has made you all winners
                                        initial lockdowns in early 2020 to
this year.
                                        show the world what outstanding
It is apparent that with greater        customer service looks like on a
health awareness has come an            day-to-day basis. The life insurance
increased appreciation of the           industry must take heed of their
demand for insurance protection,        example, or it will be left behind.
providing us with a unique chance
                                        Ever since I joined the industry,
to truly transform into agents of
                                        I have held the conviction that
change in the communities we
                                        insurance had the potential to
serve. Asia needs you more than
                                        protect and even bring significant,
ever before.
                                        positive outcomes to people in our
Structural shifts and evolving          communities. Today, our role in
consumer mindsets present an            meeting our customers’ long-term
extraordinary opportunity for you       savings and protection needs is
to provide your customers with          more important than ever.
seamless interactions, with every

                                                                                           Bill Lisle
                                                                                 Regional Chief Executive and
                                                                                Group Chief Distribution Officer,
                                                                                          AIA Group

                                                 6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021           v5
6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021 - The Winners
The Judges

Alison Salka                            Andy M Law                               Anurag Gupta
Senior Vice President and Director of   President, Financial Services Managers   National Head, Agency Sales,
Member Benefits Research, LIMRA,        Association (FSMA)                       Max Life Insurance Company Limited
LOMA, Secure Retirement Institute
                                        Mr Law has been serving as FSMA          Mr Gupta is the national head-
Ms Salka joined LIMRA in 2012           committee member since 2016.             agency sales of Max Life Insurance
and is responsible for driving the      He has served the committee as its       overseeing agency businesses in
strategy and direction of its global    honorary secretary, vice presidency      India.
research program. She oversees a        for two terms and is recently serving
team of more than 85 professionals      his second term as the president.        Since joining the Max Life group
in LIMRA’s Member Benefits and          He also served as education chair        in 2002, he has served in a
Research division who conduct           and helped to organise the annual        variety of senior positions across
benchmark studies, discovery            learning conference, Singapore           agency, business development,
research, and thought leadership        Agency Managers’ Conference.             strategy, transformation, product
designed to help companies better       FSMA’s motto is to lead and to           management across life and health
understand industry issues and          serve, and Mr Law, along with the        insurance business. Prior to moving
trends. Ms Salka previously led the     dynamic committee members in             to insurance, he has worked in
retirement research and competitive     FSMA, are committed to walking           telecom and media sector.
intelligence team at Prudential and     this journey with its members.
was also a director of retirement                                                He holds an MBA in international
research and business analytics at      On the agency front, Mr Law is a         business from an Indian university.
MassMutual. She has a Master’s          financial services director (FSD) with
degree from the College of William      AIA Singapore. He is prominent
and Mary and Ph.D. from Vanderbilt      in the employee benefits space,
University.                             having been featured in Bloomberg
                                        magazine four times in 2016-2019
                                        for his district’s achievements. His
                                        most recent achievement is the AIA
                                        Corporate Solutions Top FSD in
                                        2021. He is also a certified financial
                                        planner and affiliate of the Society
                                        of Trust and Estate Planner.

6 v 6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021
6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021 - The Winners
The Judges

Anusha Thavarajah                           Banyong Witayaweerasak                   Benedict Sison
CEO, Life & Health, Allianz Asia Pacific    Immediate Past Chairman, APFinSA         President, Philippine Life Insurance
                                                                                     Association (PLIA) / CEO and Country
Ms Thavarajah is Allianz’s regional         Mr Witayaweerasak has served in          Head, Sun Life Philippines
CEO, life & health for Asia Pacific.        the Asia Pacific Financial Services
She is responsible for the profit and       Association (APFinSA) as its hon         Mr Sison is the CEO and country
loss and functional development of          treasurer from 2015 to 2019 and          head of Sun Life Financial
Allianz’s life & health business in Asia,   served as chairman of APFinSA            Philippines. He is also the chairman
focused on advancing the segment’s          during 2019-2021. He is now              of the Sun Life Prosperity family of
strong growth to meet Allianz Asia’s        the immediate past chairman              funds, and of Sun Life Foundation.
long-term strategic priorities in the       of APFinSA. He has a wealth of
                                            experience in the financial industry     In addition, he is currently the
region. In addition, she is a member
                                            and has worked in the insurance field    president of the Philippine Life
of the company’s Regional Executive
                                            for 35 years. He is actively involved    Insurance Association. Mr Sison
Board, responsible for setting and
                                            in many social activities and projects   received his MBA from the
executing Allianz’s growth strategy in      serving the community in Thailand.       University of California Riverside
Asia, chairperson of Allianz Ayudhya        At present, he is a senior district
Assurance & Allianz Taiwan Life, vice                                                Graduate School of Management
                                            manager in AIA (Thailand).               in California, USA, on a full tuition
chairperson of Allianz China Life and
is on the boards of Allianz’s entities in   Mr Banyong was in the committee          academic scholarship. He was also
Malaysia and Philippines.                   of a public company, Community           bestowed the prestigious George
                                            Pharmacy Public Company, for more        W. DuBois Memorial Award for
Ms Thavarajah joined Allianz in             than 10 years. He has been invited       his scholastic achievement. He
December 2019 from AIA, where               to serve in education working groups     also has a degree in BS Business
she was the CEO. In addition to             from both the office of Insurance        Administration from the University
its three main business lines –             Commission and Thai Life Assurance       of the Philippines, where he
agency, partnership distribution            Association. He is a business            graduated with Magna Cum Laude
and corporate solutions, Anusha             columnist for a leading business         honours. In December 2012, he was
oversaw AIA Malaysia’s takaful,             newspaper in Thailand. He has            honoured by the institution with the
general insurance, pension and asset        written many articles about financial    Most Distinguished Alumnus Award.
management, and health services             and business issues for more than
units. Anusha was also the president        20 years and he is the author of the
                                            book, “Financial Fraud”.
of the Life Insurance Association
of Malaysia, chairperson of the             He was the president of Thai
Malaysian Insurance Institute and           Association of Insurance and
became the first woman CEO in the           Financial Advisors (THAIFA) from
AIA Group when she was appointed            2009 to 2011. During his term, he
to head AIA Malaysia in June 2015.          revitalised the Fellow Chartered
                                            Financial Practitioner (FChFP)
She has almost 30 years’ experience         course which is now popular among
in the financial services industry          Thai insurance agents. Currently,
having served in various senior             Mr Witayaweerasak is the advisor
leadership roles in the UK, Hong            to the THAIFA Board. He also
Kong and Malaysia, and is a                 serves as a committee member
fellow of the Institute of Actuaries,       of the International Certification
United Kingdom and fellow of the            and Standard Board which is a key
Malaysian Insurance Institute.              standing committee of APFinSA,
                                            governing the FChFP curriculum.
                                                      6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021             v7
6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021 - The Winners
The Judges

Bruce de Broize                           Carlos Lee Seng Teck                      Davey Lee
Regional Head of Distribution,            President (2021/2022), Insurance and      President (2021), The Life Underwriters
Generali Asia                             Financial Practitioners Association of    Association of Hong Kong /
                                          Singapore (IFPAS) / Co-Chairman, 18th     Senior Regional Director, Prudential
Mr de Broize is the regional head         Asia Pacific Life Insurance Congress      Hong Kong Limited
of distribution for Generali Asia         (APLIC) 2022 Singapore
based in Hong Kong. He oversees                                                     Having been in the insurance arena
life, health and P&C distribution         As the President of IFPAS,                for more than three decades, Mr
for Generali’s operations across          Mr Lee oversee the various                Lee has served the industry by
eight markets in Asia, including          initiatives by the organisation           taking up the leadership in various
China, Hong Kong, Thailand,               and is responsible for managing           industry associations. He has
Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Malaysia       the wellbeing of the Singapore            been serving at LUAHK since 2008
and the Philippines. He has               financial advisory industry. Together     and is currently the president of
extensive distribution expertise          with his team, he will continue           LUAHK. He aims to promote the
drawn from over 32 years of               building the association as the           sustainable development of the
international experience in various       national representative of industry       industry by serving LUAHK as well
senior operational distribution           practitioners.                            as CEPA Business Opportunities
management and consulting roles                                                     Development Alliance and being
with major life and P&C insurance         IFPAS represents the 18,000               a committee member of Hong
companies in Asia. As a result,           strong group of financial advisers        Kong Management Association –
he has a deep knowledge of the            in Singapore. It enforces strictly        Insurance Industry Committee.
Asia market, with over 21 years’          to ensure a high standard of
experience in the Asia region.            membership, as well as to protect         In addition, Mr Lee played an active
                                          the public’s interests, the institution   role in the regulatory development
Mr de Broize has played leading           of life insurance and the institution     of the industry by serving as co-
roles in developing and growing           of insurance and financial services.      opted and committee member of
profitable distribution operations,                                                 Insurance Agents Registration Board
including distribution start-ups, JVs,    Through a very close-knit                 be-fore the Insurance Authority’s
M&’s, and managing turnarounds            working relationship with various         takeover in 2019.
in both developed and developing          government agencies like Monetary
markets across the region. He has         Authority of Singapore, Prime
extensive hands-on operational            Minister’s Officer, Ministry of Health,
distribution management                   Ministry of Culture, Community &
experience in leading large and           Youth, People’s Association and
diverse intermediary distribution         many more, the association has
operations, including professional        garnered incredible support from
independent agencies, strategic           different stakeholders and Insurer
partners, partner intermediaries and      companies in Singa-pore (AIA,
career agency distribution.               Prudential, Great Eastern, Income,
                                          Manulife) over the years.
Prior to joining Generali, he was the
regional chief distribution officer for
AXA Asia, and prior to that regional
chief agency officer for AIG in the
Asia Pacific region responsible for all
agency business, including China.

8 v 6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021
The Judges

James Liu                               Jeslyn Tan                                 Jude Gomes
President, Insurance and Financial      President, Singapore Insurance Institute   CEO, Union Assurance
Practitioners Association of Taiwan     (SII)
(IFPA)                                                                             Mr Gomes has over 28 years of
                                        Currently serving as president of the      rich financial services experience
Mr Liu is senior executive advisor to   Singapore Insurance Association,           working across key Asian markets.
the FinTech Research Center of the      Ms Tan is a collaborative and              Previously, he was heading
NCC University, cooperating with        versatile business leader with             Manulife China Bank Life Assurance
financial institutions and technology   international and cross-cultural           Philippines as CEO and president.
firms in implementing digital           work experience. She has extensive         He has been with Manulife
transformation, and chairman of         experience in a wide variety of            Group since 2012, pioneering
IFPA Taiwan, an Asian association of    roles within the insurance industry        bancassurance in Vietnam as VP and
life insurance agents. Previously, he   including consulting, distribution,        head of partnership distribution.
was CEO of AEGON Taiwan, having         human resources, operations, and
built the company from scratch          customer service. She has a flair for      Mr Gomes was a founding member
to a $30bn asset company; and           identifying talent for the right role      of Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance
expanded into the Asian region.         and is passionate about coaching           as senior VP and head of channel
                                        and developing people.                     and was subsequently seconded
                                                                                   to Hong Kong at HSBC Insurance
                                                                                   (Asia-Pacific) Regional Business
                                                                                   Development, working across APAC
                                                                                   markets.

                                                                                   He was among the pioneers at
                                                                                   India’s first privatised Life Insurer,
                                                                                   HDFC Standard Life and led wealth
                                                                                   management for Centurion Bank of
                                                                                   Punjab.

                                                                                   Mr Gomes is recipient of Manulife’s
                                                                                   Global Star of Excellence Award
                                                                                   in 2013 and 2015 and Standard
                                                                                   Chartered Bank’s Regional Award in
                                                                                   1999. He was also awarded the CEO
                                                                                   of the Year in 2020 by CEO monthly
                                                                                   magazine, United Kingdom.

                                                  6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021               v9
The Judges

Keith Richards                             Laura Hoi                                Mark O’Dell
CEO, Personal Finance Society /            Zone Chair, South East Asia,             CEO, Life Insurance Association of
Chief Membership Officer,                  2020-2021 / Million Dollar Round Table   Malaysia
Chartered Insurance Institute              (MDRT) Membership Communications
                                           Committee, Qualifying & Life Member      Mr O’Dell is the CEO of Life
A recognised leader within the                                                      Insurance Association of Malaysia
insurance and financial services           Having started her career in 2002,       (LIAM) since 2 January 2019. A
sectors, Mr Richards has 40                Ms Hoi is a veteran in the financial     permanent resident of Malaysia, he
years’ experience operating                planning industry. She is also a 17-     has over 41 years of experience in
at the executive level across              year qualifying and life member of       the life insurance business (including
                                           the prestigious Million Dollar Round     27 years in Asia) with an excellent
manufacturing, distribution and
                                           Table (MDRT), with one Court of the      track record in spearheading the
regulation for insurance, financial
                                           Table and is recognised as one of a      transformation of the life insurance
planning and professional bodies.          handful of private wealth consultants    industry. He holds both the
                                           in her company to serve the high-        chartered life underwriter (CLU) and
He established a strong media profile      net-worth segment. She values            the chartered financial consultant
whilst representing Tenet Group as         the importance of comprehensive          (ChFC) designations from the
group distribution and development         financial planning and finds great       American College. He is also a
director, prior to which he was head       fulfilment being able to help her        certified financial planner (CFP). In
of retail for Royal London Group.          clients and their families with her      2006, he was named the Personality
Actively engaged in the promotion          financial expertise. An advocate of      of the Year by the Asia Insurance
of financial services within the UK        continuous education, Ms Hoi is a        Review for his contribution to
and internationally, he sits on the        chartered financial consultant as well   the industry and his leadership in
board of the European Financial            as an affiliate member of the Society    corporate social responsibility.
Planning Association (EFPA), chairs        of Trusts and Estate Planners and
                                           specialises in advising professionals
the Pension Advice Taskforce, is                                                    In October 2018, Mr O’Dell was
                                           from the finance sector, medical
chairman of TISA Exco for Adviser                                                   honoured with the ‘Outstanding
                                           professionals as well as business
Protocol and chairs the Financial                                                   Leaders in Asia’ award from ACES
                                           owners in the area of wealth
Vulnerability Taskforce as well as                                                  (Asia Corporate Excellence and
                                           management and distribution.
being recognised as one of the top                                                  Sustainability Awards). Prior to
100 influential figures internationally,   Ms Hoi firmly believes in and            joining LIAM, he served as senior
by International Adviser.                  practices the ‘whole person              vice president, Southeast Asia of
                                           concept’ – she believes that a           Manulife from November 2012 to
Mr Richards was appointed CEO              successful life is one where a person    January 2016, overseeing Singapore,
                                           enjoys and grows continuously in         Malaysia and Philippines during
of the Personal Finance Society
                                           the seven different areas of their       which the territories experienced
(PFS) in 2013 and additionally
                                           lives. Having served on various          strong growth. He retired from
appointed as managing director for                                                  Manulife in 2018 after serving as the
the Chartered Insurance Institute          committees within the MDRT for
                                           more than 15 years, she is currently     group CEO for Manulife Malaysia.
in 2016. In addition to guiding the                                                 During his 27 years in Asia, Mr O’Dell
                                           the zone chair for Southeast Asia
operational and strategic evolution        MDRT Member Communications               has run life operations in Malaysia,
of the PFS, he has developed               Committee (MCC) where she                Singapore, Indonesia and Taiwan.
greater government and regulatory          oversees the various MCCs in
engagement for the financial               eight countries to raise the level       He was also appointed the president
services and insurance professions         of professionalism in the industry.      of the Life Insurance Association of
and brought enhancements to                She is also regularly invited to give    Singapore and the Financial Planning
membership benefits and its CPD            speeches and workshops, to help          Association of Singapore in 2007-
programmes, as well as launching           bring up the standards of financial      2008 and currently sits on a number
key consumer initiatives.                  practitioners around the world.          of boards and charities.
10 v 6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021
The Judges

Mark V T Saunders                        Patrick Peck                            Paul Arrowsmith
Group Executive, Group Chief Strategy    Managing Director, Regional Agency /    President, International Operations,
& Corporate Development Officer,         FA and Bancassurance, Great Eastern     LIMRA, LOMA, and LL Global
AIA Group Limited                        Life Assurance Co Ltd
                                                                                 Based in Asia since 1999, Mr
Mr Saunders is a group executive         Mr Peck is the managing director,       Arrowsmith’s former roles include
committee member of AIA                  regional agency/financial advisory      head of retail bank and wealth
Group with responsibility for the        and bancassurance, where he             management at HSBC Singapore,
group’s strategy and corporate           is responsible for driving the          deputy regional head of insurance
development, including M&A,              growth and governance of the            at HSBC Asia Pacific, HSBC head of
corporate transactions, and strategic    agency, financial advisory and          insurance South East Asia, CEO of
partnership deals underpinning           bancassurance channels across the       HSBC Insurance Singapore, country
ecosystem development for the            Great Eastern Group in Singapore,       head of AXA Indonesia and deputy
group. Having joined AIA in 2014         Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.         CEO of Allianz South Korea.
as chief strategy and corporate
development officer, he is currently a   Previously, he led various types
board director of various companies      of distribution and he has over a
within the group and has been            decade of experience in the life and
responsible for its corporate            general insurance sectors, where he
solutions, group L&H and healthcare      drove the agency, financial advisory,
businesses across all 18 markets.        bancassurance, partnership and
He has also served as group chief        HNW distribution business.
marketing officer, bringing together
strategy and marketing centred           He has a Master of Business
around customer propositions driving     Administration from the University
evolution of customer-centricity         of Leicester, UK and a Bachelor of
of the business and the purpose-         Science (Business Management)
led strategy of helping people live      from the University of Northeastern,
healthier, longer, better lives.         USA. Mr Peck is also an associate
                                         financial consultant.
Mr Saunders has been a trusted
advisor of boards and board
committees of leading insurers in
Asia holding numerous executive
and INED board positions and
memberships of a multitude
of insurance-related, actuarial,
regulatory and professional
committees. He has been a member
of Hong Kong’s Financial Services
Development Council New Business
Committee and was a member of
the HKSAR Government Financial
Secretary’s FSTB Working Group on
Long Term Fiscal Planning and the
statutory body, Insurance Advisory
Committee.
                                                 6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021             v 11
The Judges

Paul McNamara                               Rishi Srivastava                        Rotha Chan
Editorial Director, Asia Insurance Review   CEO, Group Agency Distribution,         CEO, FWD Cambodia
and Middle East Insurance Review            AIA Group
                                                                                    Mr Chan is the 2018 Asia Young
Mr McNamara is a journalist,                Mr Srivastava is the CEO, group         Leader of the Year Award Winner
author and biographer with                  agency distribution, AIA Group from     and the 2017 Special Jury Award
extensive experience in Asia, the           October 2020, responsible for AIA       Winner by Asia Insurance Review.
UK, the Arabian Gulf and Australia          Group’s agency distribution function.   He served as a member of the
covering the wholesale financial            Prior to this, he was the CEO and       judging panel of the 4th Asia
markets. Over the years he has              managing director of Tata AIA Life      Trusted Life Agents & Advisers
worked for the Financial Times              Insurance (Tata AIA) since August       Awards 2019.
Group, Fairfax Media, Euromoney             2018. Under his leadership Tata
Institutional Investor, CPI Financial       AIA Life built sustainable business     Having been in the life insurance
and Eaglemont Media. His areas              practices that served the community     industry in Cambodia since
of specialisation include insurance,        through protection. He is also firm     the inception in 2012, he was
reinsurance, Islamic finance,               believer in people being core to        agency officer (CAO) for Manulife
investment banking, project                 sustained purposeful growth.            Cambodia and led the largest
finance, trade finance, wealth                                                      and most professional agency
management, private equity, hedge           Mr Srivastava has over 20 years of      force in the country measured by
funds and alternative investments,          experience in agency distribution.      headcounts and the MDRT number.
the Middle East banking and                 Some of his other previous
finance industry, GCC capital               roles were chief of proprietary         Currently, he is the CEO of FWD
markets and the world of interest           channels, distribution strategy,        Life Cambodia. Mr Chan has
rate securities. He is also the author      product, marketing and corporate        earned prestigious awards such as
of numerous books including The             communication, Tata AIA;                Manulife’s Global Star of Excellence,
History of Banking in the UAE, the          marketing director (life & health),     Asia Star of Excellence and Share
History of the National Bank of             AXA Indonesia; general manager          Your Humanity Awards.
Abu Dhabi, Dubai Islamic Bank: 35           and head of non-resident Indian
Glorious Years and many others.             and global remittances, ICICI Bank;
                                            and chief agency officer, ICICI
                                            Prudential Life.

                                            Mr Srivastava has been conferred
                                            with M.A. (Economics) and a
                                            post-graduate qualification in
                                            marketing and completed the
                                            Global Advanced Management
                                            Programme from Kellogg School of
                                            Management.

12 v 6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021
The Judges

Sara Lamsam                             Selina Lau                                Shalini Pavithran
President and CEO, Muang Thai Life      Chief Executive, The Hong Kong            CEO, Malaysian Insurance Institute,
Assurance Public Company Limited        Federation of Insurers (HKFI)             ASEAN Insurance Training & Research
(MTL)                                                                             Institute
                                        Ms Lau is the chief executive of the
Mr Sara Lamsam is the president         Hong Kong Federation of Insurers          Ms Pavithran is the CEO of the
and CEO of Muang Thai Life              (HKFI), a trade body with 139             Malaysian Insurance Institute (MII),
Assurance (MTL). With over 28 years     insurers operating in Hong Kong           the leading professional body
of experience, he has led MTL to        which represents over 90% of the          and education Institution for the
become a leader of Thailand’s life      market share.                             Malaysian insurance industry. MII
insurance industry. Mr Lamsam has                                                 is highly respected as a regional
taken the leading role to enhance       Selina has accumulated extensive          centre offering an extensive range
the life insurance business with        management and communications             of professional qualifications,
innovative ideas, holistic thinking,    experience in the field of insurance      certification and training
and change management and               since she joined the HKFI in              programmes catered for insurance
transformation leadership to tackle     1997. In addition to overseeing           professionals. MII also administers
major business challenges today.        the operations of the HKFI and            the licensing examinations for
                                        its 40+ technical committees and          intermediaries namely insurance
Moreover, he has been actively          various consumer education and            agents, brokers, loss adjusters and
involved in the enhancement             communications projects, she also         financial planners.
of rules and regulations. He has        spearheaded a number of significant
worked as the president of the          initiatives for the industry, including   Ms Pavithran also serves as the CEO
Thai Life Assurance Association         the Insurance Fraud Prevention            of the ASEAN Insurance Training
and worked with the Office of           Claims Database, the award-               & Research Institute (AITRI) in view
Insurance Commission (OIC) to set       winning Motor Insurance DLT-based         of MII being given the mandate as
a strategic roadmap to set new          Authentication System (MIDAS),            the secretariat of AITRI. AITRI is a
standards for the sustainable life      the virtual onboarding platform for       non-profit organisation established
insurance industry. He has served       the distribution of life insurance        by the Insurance Regulators of
in many business positions in the       products, the Hong Kong Insurance         the 10 ASEAN member countries
insurance industry and the financial    Awards, etc.                              and serves as a regional centre for
sector such as the chairman of                                                    insurance education and research
the Federation of Thai Insurance        Externally, she is a council member       focusing on capacity building of
Organizations, the chairman of the      of the Institute of Big Data              regulators and supervisors in the
Thai Financial Planners Association,    Governance and Road Safety                region.
the managing director of Life           Council. She also serves as member
Insurance Fund, the advisor of the      of the Insurance Training Advisory        Prior to joining MII, Ms Pavithran
Society of Actuaries of Thailand, and   Committee of the Qualifications           spent over 20 years of her career in
the advisor of the Board of Trade of    Framework, Road Safety Campaign           various sectors within the financial
Thailand.                               Committee and Cyberport Academy           services industry. She holds a
                                        Advisory Group for FinTech. She           Bachelor of Economics degree from
Currently, he has been studying         is also a member of the Education         the University of Malaya, a Bachelor
at the National Defence College         Forum of the International Union of       of Laws degree from the University
of Thailand and holds academic          Marine Insurance and its Asia Hub.        of London and has completed the
positions such as the advisor to the                                              Certificate of Legal Practice.
president of Association of Capital
Market Academy.

                                                6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021             v 13
The Judges

Stephen Appleyard                       Steven Fong                               Willison So Yu
Chief of Distribution Hub, AXA Asia     General Manager, Distribution,            2020 National President,
                                        Sun Life Hong Kong Limited                Life Underwriters Association of the
Mr Appleyard joined AXA in 2018                                                   Philippines
as head of distribution Asia having     With over 20-year experience in
worked across Asia for the past         the industry, Mr Fong has served          Mr Yu has over 11 years’ experience
18 years in managing director,          in a variety of senior management         as a life insurance professional in the
country management and regional         positions at both local and               Philippines. During these years, he
management roles. He has a finance      international insurance companies         has qualified for the Million Dollar
background but joined the life          across distribution channels              Round Table (MDRT) for the past
insurance industry 24 years ago in      including agency and brokerage            eight years straight, with two Court
the UK as an insurance agent.           as well as distribution training. He      of the Table qualifications as well.
                                        spearheads strategic initiatives to
His extensive experience includes       drive quality business growth in          He is a registered financial planner,
roles in Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia    agency and brokerage channels that        a fellow chartered financial
and Hong Kong where he was CEO          supports the company’s medium-to-         practitioner, a certified trust and
of partnership distribution for AIA     long term success.                        estate planner, a certified wealth
across their 17 markets. He has                                                   planner and a certified estate
also been country manager for           Mr Fong joined Sun Life Hong              planner of the Philippines, having
AIA, Allianz and has run one of the     Kong in January 2017 and has held         earned all these designations over
leading publicly listed life insurers   various positions including head of       the past eight years.
in Thailand, Siam Commercial Bank       agency business development and
Life. A growth market distribution      was promoted to the chief agency          He served as the past president of
expert, he brings this wealth of        officer in 2018. He is currently          the Life Underwriters Association
experience and market knowledge         general manager, distribution.            of the Philippines in 2020 and
to the judging panel.                                                             currently sits as an area chair for the
                                        He has a master’s degree in finance       MDRT membership communications
                                        – wealth management from The              committee in the Philippines.
                                        Hong Kong Polytechnic University,
                                        and a bachelor’s degree in business       Willison is a loving father to two
                                        administration – finance from             young boys, Warren and Liam, and a
                                        California State University, Fullerton,   devoted husband to his wife, Jo-An.
                                        USA. He is also a fellow, life
                                        management institute (FLMI) and
                                        associate, customer service (ACS).

14 v 6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021
Rookie Insurance Agent of the Year

                                          Chan Fun, Nicholas
                                          Manulife Hong Kong

                                          For achieving Court of the Table status within six months as a rookie
                                          and Top of the Table in the following successive years; for capitalising
                                          on his own experience to reach out to people in the same age group;
                                          and inspiring his fellow agents and helping to promote the culture of
                                          young MDRTs.

A
          fter leaving the position       adviser – he recognised that he could resonate with millennials and young
          of a TV host in June            professionals like himself who struggled to start their journey of personal
          2018, at the age of 23,         finance with the lack of relevant knowledge and a trustworthy agent. He
          Nicholas took a leap of         realised that educating his clients clears up a lot of misconceptions towards
faith to enter the insurance industry.    the image of an agent as well as the whole industry. He also uses his
Despite having no prior knowledge         Instagram account to record the bittersweet experiences of being an agent
of finance and sales, he pushed           in the hopes that it will allow his clients to get to know who they are trusting
forward with fearless determination       their money with.
and a desire to learn, which helped
                                          The unprecedented challenges that 2020 brought spurred him to develop
him achieve his first COT within six
                                          new ideas as he shifted his focus to investment-linked policies, aiming to
months as a rookie, making him the
                                          help youngsters to grow their wealth in a manageable and sustainable way,
youngest COT qualifier in Manulife
                                          while empowering them to start investing at a young age. He also designed
Hong Kong. In 2019, despite the
                                          a curriculum for young people with the company’s fund platform, providing
social unrests in Hong Kong, he
                                          courses from investment basics like reading fund fact sheets, to designing a
finished achieved his first TOT and
                                          portfolio that fits their risk level. This interactive way of selling that engages
in 2020 achieved TOT for a second
                                          his clients helped him achieve his TOT by October last year.
time despite the challenges of
COVID-19.                                 And even with less than three years in the industry, Nicholas has been able
                                          to inspire fellow agents to go beyond their imaginations and limitations. This
Nicholas also learned to capitalise
                                          motivated him to take part in building the Young Round Table Committee
on his lack of familiarity with finance
                                          in the company, to promote the culture of young MDRTs, while attending
prior to becoming a financial
                                          sharing sections in over 50 agencies over the last year.

                                                  6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021                v 15
Rookie Insurance Agency Leader
                  of the Year

                                        Nguyen Thi Van
                                        Manulife Vietnam

                                        For taking the initiative to improve public perception of life insurance;
                                        for building a strong team and recording outstanding performance in
                                        such a short period; and for instilling customer-centric values in her
                                        team.

V
         an has demonstrated            inherent shift in attitudes that will address the protection gap and benefit the
         herself to be a high           wider community. Her focus on greater societal issues such as the protection
         achiever and an excellent      gap is also how she stands out in the Manulife community.
         leader. She joined Manulife
                                        As a self-driven person, Van has demonstrated herself to be a high achiever
Vietnam in February 2018. She was
                                        and strong leader. She grew her team from 19 in 2019 to 120 advisers in
inspired to explore a career change
                                        2020. She and her team contributed over VND19bn ($828,420) in first year
after witnessing a colleague facing
                                        premiums in 2020, with a growth rate of 253% compared to 2019.
financial challenges with their son’s
hospital bills.                         Van’s team currently includes 12 agents who qualified for MDRT, and 17 high
                                        performing financial consultants, representing almost a quarter of her team.
While Van understood the value of
                                        Due to her outstanding performance, she has been promoted five times in
insurance, she that wished others
                                        just three years, from a financial adviser to unit manager (2018), to senior
also could see how it could help
                                        manager and district manager (2019) to senior district manager (2020) and
them during difficult times. That
                                        now area manager.
experience cemented her mission
to help lessen the financial burden     Van is a customer-centric leader, instilling the values and benefits of service
and heartache brought about by a        and experience. For Van, the human touch is equally important and giving
lack of insurance or awareness of its   customers a memorable experience is how she and the team leave a lasting
benefits.                               impression. She also encourages the team to widen their social circles and
                                        find opportunities to protect people, improve their knowledge through
Van’s personal mission is to help
                                        continuous learning, be fast adopters of new technology and leverage social
change the public’s perception of
                                        media to build their presence with younger demographics.
life insurance in Vietnam, driving an

16 v 6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021
Financial Adviser of the Year

Lee Zi Yi, Michelle
Manulife Financial Advisers Singapore

For using her position and knowledge to empower women financially
and strive towards greater economic and social equality; for upgrading
herself with the necessary skills to enhance the quality of her service
to clients during the pandemic; and for dedicating time, effort and
resources to social initiatives.

O
           ver the past year,           self-sufficiency and empowerment, there are no limits to what women can
           Michelle has established     accomplish and she hopes to continue doing her part to empower women to
           a substantial following      achieve financial wellness
           of more than 20,000
                                        In October 2020, she collaborated with United Women Singapore for their
followers on her Instagram where
                                        Empowered Women Series on Wealth Building, where she pledged her time,
she consistently curates educational
                                        effort and 100% of the proceeds from her webinars on financial literacy to
content to educate her clients and
                                        United Women Singapore and successfully raised S$1,000 ($755) to support
followers on financial literacy. She
                                        UWS’ flagship Girls2Pioneers STEM programme and their local anti-violence
also achieved COT in 2020.
                                        initiatives.
As a financially literate woman with
                                        During the pandemic, Michelle sought to upgrade herself with the necessary
the skills and expertise to grow
                                        skills to gain a competitive advantage and enhance the quality of service for
wealth, she utilises those assets to
                                        her clients. She implemented a robust infrastructure that supports various
collaborate with women-owned
                                        swings in financial activities such as conducting online zoom calls and
businesses to provide financial
                                        hosting webinars, which proved to be beneficial for her clients.
literacy webinars and Instagram live
series for women to have access to      Michelle has also been volunteering with Meals On Wheels, delivering
a robust and meaningful financial       packed lunch boxes to senior citizens living in rented or single room flats.
education.                              As her following on Instagram continued to grow, she utilised her knowledge
                                        and expertise in the financial field and launched her first ever webinar on
She firmly believes that investing in
                                        “How to Start Investing” for her followers. She managed to raise S$1,170
women’s financial literacy is the key
                                        from the investment webinar and 100% of the amount was donated to
to achieving economic and social
                                        Singapore Children Society.
equality. With greater economic

                                               6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021            v 17
Bank Partner of the Year

Krungthai Bank, Thailand

For helping its partner insurer maintain its strong growth over the last
few years; for transforming its salespersons into insurance and financial
products specialists; and for launching initiatives that have helped its
partner insurer reach untapped segments and bring more complex
products to market.

K
        rungthai Bank (KTB) and        Since then, salespersons from more than 1,000 KTB branches have received
        Krungthai-AXA Life Insurance   intensive training from KTAXA to focus on providing protection advice, as
        (KTAXA) have jointly           well as tools to become insurance and financial products specialist. KTAXA
        operated over the past two     also launched ‘AXA Prime FP’ brand and campaign that offers additional
decades, bringing synergy and          privileges and rewards to FPs who have performed well and passed KTB’s
value to Thai society by leveraging    customised health & protection products training. In 2020, AXA Prime FPs
each other’s expertise. KTB’s          accounted for 30% of all FPs but generated 50% of the bank’s fee income.
commitment to customer-centricity,
                                       Last year also saw the launch of KTB’s new customer acquisition platform on
nationwide presence, strong sales
                                       tablet, e-Solutions, that allowing FPs to comprehensively explain products
force, and professionalism have
                                       to customers, reduce time per acquisition and strictly follow compliance
helped the insurer become one
                                       regulation. And in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, KTB began offering
of the top life insurers in Thailand
                                       KTAXA products on Krungthai NEXT, its mobile banking app. It also shifted
– KTAXA’s total sum assured has
                                       its product portfolio mix from traditional savings policies to investment-
grown 12% annually over the past
                                       linked products and health & protection.
five years and the in-force sum
insured accounted for 10% of the       The FP model and new platform have helped KTB differentiate its product
market at THB2,428bn ($78bn).          categories and extend health & protection products to untapped customers
                                       who are either uninsured or under-insured. Since mid-2020, the bank’s
In mid-2019, KTAXA and KTB co-
                                       customers have been able to purchase insurance through its branches using
ordinated a revamp of their sales
                                       tablet or its mobile banking platform.
staff from salespersons to financial
planners (FPs) with the aim to offer   The initiatives have also been successful in helping KTAXA offer more
better customer satisfaction by        complex products in the Thai insurance market, with the annualised premium
providing comprehensive financial      equivalent contribution from investment-linked and health & protection
solutions.                             products increasing from 21% to 51% of its portfolio total.

18 v 6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021
Digital Agent of the Year

Joyce Chan Ann Ni (Zeng Anni)
Prudential Assurance Company Singapore

For leveraging social media and other digital tools to grow and
improve her business; for taking the initiative to help her fellow FCs as
they transitioned into the digital era; and for her efforts in sharing her
experience and knowledge of human psychology.

J
       oyce joined the insurance          Joyce is also mostly digitised from end-to-end.
       profession in April 2018
                                          She utilises Goalsmapper Fact Find form prior to meeting the clients
       and has since consecutively
                                          and obtains close to 100% information for most of her clients before the
       qualified for MDRT, COT
                                          appointment. During the appointment, Joyce uses Goalsmapper, Canva and
in 2021 and was awarded Rookie
                                          various software and data presentation tools to go through the analysis with
Insurance Agent of the Year 2020.
                                          her clients.
Her business grew exponentially
when she started to digitise her          On social media, her #DabaoLife video series pushes out key messages that
prospecting and client experience         Joyce finds inspiring to her clients. This also allows potential prospects get
processes, mainly through                 to know Joyce prior to even meeting her and can already assess her values
establishing personal branding on         and who she is as a person. As such, most of her passive business from social
social media and exploring digital        media has come from quality prospects who have made the decision to work
tools.                                    with her through her social media content.
As a strong advocate of digitalisation    On the Financial Consultant (FCs) end, Joyce initiated and held training
and social media, Joyce has               sessions for her company when she realised that FCs were struggling to
implemented digitalisation in every       adapt to the video conference environment during the Circuit Breaker period
aspect of her business. She has           and since then has trained hundreds of FCs to adapt to the new way of
also given training to thousands of       doing business.
financial consultants (FCs) across Asia
                                          In 2020, she took up over 30 speaking and sharing engagements to share
to help them adapt to digitalisation
                                          her experiences with and train fellow FCs how to conduct business digitally.
in the new business landscape.
                                          As a trained Human-Centred Design and User Experience practitioner, Joyce
On the client end, her business is        also injects an understanding of human psychology when training FCs on
100% powered by passive referrals         how to adapt to the digital era. As an MDRT Mentor in Prudential Singapore,
that mostly come through social           she mentored three fellow FCs to utilise digital tools in their business. These
media. The client’s experience with       three FCs are now all first-time qualifiers for MDRT 2021.

                                                  6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021            v 19
Employee Benefits Consultant
                  of the Year

                                          Anthony Wong
                                          AIA International, Hong Kong

                                         For always going beyond contractual obligations to build strong
                                         relationships with his clients; for finding ways to innovate and
                                         address shortcomings in the business; and for leading by example
                                         and mentoring new people and encouraging them to pursue the
                                         employee benefits business.

A
           nthony joined AIA in 1982   Anthony sees himself as a partner to his clients and feels good about the
           for his first job in Hong   work he does for them. He believes that connection with them is key, and
           Kong after graduating in    that building a strong relationship means delivering beyond contractual
           the UK and in 1984, he      requirements and exceeding expectations in communication, energy, and
signed his first group insurance       results. He makes absolutely sure to keep pace with developments in the HR
case. Today, as district director      community to anticipate his clients’ needs and, create an open and transparent
at AIA International, he serves        relationship where feedback is shared, respected and responded to.
clients of every size, from SMEs to
                                       He also constantly looks for ways to innovate and stay ahead of the
multinationals.
                                       competition. Recognising the protection needs of many employees as
Driven by integrity, sincerity, and    well as the financial and social needs of employers, he worked with AIA to
mutual respect, he has achieved        develop the StepUp medical product, which has enjoyed an overwhelmingly
MDRT status annually since 1997,       positive response, and become part of the company’s core strategy to
TOT annually since 2010, and           explore employee voluntary solutions. More than 10,000 of those policies
holds numerous employee benefits       have been sold since, and over 12% of these StepUp policyholders have
records in AIA Group’s history         purchased other life products.
including highest in-force portfolio
                                       With a burning passion for employee benefits, Anthony always wants more
and highest premium from one
                                       people to join him in the business and he is more than happy to help them
case. His team currently serves
                                       along the way. With the rapid growth of the China market, the AIA China
over 44,000 members from 100
                                       Corporate Solutions team has invited him every year to speak at their annual
corporations, with over $65m in
                                       Employee Benefits Summit and he has also shared his stories and lessons he
annualised premiums, of which
                                       has learned with colleagues in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines,
$52m comes from his personal
                                       and Indonesia. He enjoys meeting young and hungry professionals, listening
portfolio.
                                       to their perspectives and sharing his experiences with them.

20 v 6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021
InsurTech of the Year

Heartzmail

For creating tools that enhance the quality of relationships between
agents and their clients; for simplifying technical terms to make it easier
for clients to understand their insurance coverage; and for developing
personal branding tools that help advisers enhance their position and
referrals.

W
               hen financial            data, HQ places strong emphasis on delivering touchpoints and enhancing
               technology comes         the quality of relationships between clients and agents. HQ’s proprietary
               to mind, there are       innovation, FirstPage, has helped agents consolidate a daily focused
               two main types of        to-do list that cultivates a habit of calling on their clients regularly on
technologies — technologies             their birthdays and for reviews. This thereby not only increases agents’
designed to replace financial           engagement with clients and odds of conversion, but more importantly, this
agents, and technologies designed       closes the servicing gaps and increases repurchase rates in the marketplace.
to support financial agents.
                                        While InsurTech companies tend to focus on sophisticated summaries that
Headquarter (HQ), an innovation by
                                        contain jargon that mostly only agents can understand, HQ stays invested in
Heartzmail, belongs to the latter. In
                                        helping the layperson understand the key figures that matter in their financial
facing increasing competition in the
                                        portfolios. The layperson who receives summaries via WhatsApp or Telegram
financial industry, the HQ platform
                                        from their agents tend to help them remember their coverage, plans and
that is designed with the needs of
                                        shortfalls better.
financial advisers and experience of
their clients in mind.                  The personal branding tools provided by the Headquarter platform have
                                        also helped many advisers enhance their positioning and referrals, and
The success of HQ is evidenced
                                        currently powers some of the highest numbers of personal web profiles in
by the numerous testimonials that
                                        the InsurTech industry.
showcase the benefits and ROI
that users and agents have reaped       In addition, the capability to automate the sending of physical cards and
from using the various technologies     allow agents and users to upload their own images through the digital
powered by HQ. Users have found         HQ platform has enabled users to display their creativity and individuality
HQ to be user-friendly, human-          through customisation, bringing about higher satisfaction among agents’
centric and valuable in solving real    clients and their families.
pain points as the system helps to
                                        The unique and innovative solutions by Headquarter are in tune with the
streamline day-to-day business and
                                        needs of the financial services market, and the out-of-the-box and fresh
sales processes.
                                        solutions that HQ came up with has brought about positive changes and
Unlike many other CRM companies         impacted the way advisers think about and carry out their business and
that focus on purely keeping            handle relationships.

                                                6th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2021            v 21
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