Chathuri Munaweera creates history as first female CEO of AIA Insurance

Bill Lisle

Chathuri Munaweera

Nikhil Advani

AIA Insurance Lanka yesterday announced the appointment of Chathuri Munaweera as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

The appointment will be effective 1 May subject to approval of the Insurance Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka. Notably, she will be the company’s first female CEO. The outgoing CEO, Nikhil Advani is relocating within the AIA Group as CEO of AIA Thailand.  

AIA Group Regional Chief Executive and AIA Insurance Lanka Chairman Bill Lisle said: “I am delighted that Chathuri is set to become CEO of AIA Insurance Lanka. She brings a proven track record and considerable experience to the CEO role and is well-positioned for continued success. I wish her all the best and am confident she will accelerate the company’s positive momentum in its next phase of growth in Sri Lanka.  I also want to congratulate Nikhil on his outstanding performance and invaluable leadership and wish him every success as he assumes the position as CEO of AIA Thailand.”

Chathuri is a highly experienced executive with over 25 years of experience in the insurance industry in Sri Lanka. She is the Director Legal and Operations of AIA Insurance Lanka (AIA Sri Lanka) responsible for Life Operations, Corporate Law, Company Secretarial and External Relations and has previously been the Company’s Chief HR Officer and Chief Compliance Officer. Chathuri has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Company since 2006, playing a lead role in strategic planning and business achievements.

Chathuri led the complex corporate restructuring of AIA Sri Lanka to ultimately become a wholly owned subsidiary of AIA Group. She has been responsible for the digital and process transformation of AIA Sri Lanka’s end- to -end customer journey, aligning to customer and advisor support which was recognised with a number of ‘Most Improved’ Country Awards within AIA Group (2021).  She led the operational changes which saw premium collections grow via digital and bank-led non-cash collection methods and customer conservations, thus improving both new business sales efficiency and the quality of the in-force business.  

Chathuri concluded her studies at Visakha Vidyalaya and is a lawyer by training (Sri Lanka Law College) with a Bachelor and Master’s degrees in law from the University of Colombo.  She is a, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development UK Chartered Member and holds an International Diploma in Compliance (Graduate), ICA, (Manchester Business School, University of Manchester) UK. 

She was recognised as one of the 16 trailblazers who are driving gender equality across Sri Lanka, at the launch of the #TogetherWeCan campaign by the IFC-DFAT SheWorks Sri Lanka Partnership, a campaign intended to pave the way for the private sector to enhance employment opportunities for women.

Outgoing CEO Nikhil has been a part of AIA Insurance Lanka since 2016 and was responsible for the Company’s new life insurance product portfolio and expanded its footprint in the health market. Having taken over as CEO in 2019, under his leadership, AIA Sri Lanka achieved strong growth in its top line and outperformance in VONB, OPAT and other financial KPIs, demonstrating resilience during some of the most challenging economic times in Sri Lanka’s history. He joined AIA Group in 2011 as Group Head of Channel Marketing and AIA Sri Lanka in 2016 as Chief Marketing Officer and Director of Customer Strategy and Transformation. Nikhil has over 26 years’ experience in insurance and financial industries.