Fairfirst Insurance announces leadership succession

Dr. Sanjeev Jha

Sandeep Gopal

Fairfirst Insurance announced current CEO and Managing Director Dr. Sanjeev Jha will be transitioning into a new role soon and with this will be relocating out of Sri Lanka. A suitable succession plan has

been put in place with Sandeep Gopal, the current Deputy Chief Executive Officer, to take over as the Principal Officer and CEO of Fairfirst Insurance effective 1 May.

Dr. Jha will be transitioning into an Advisory role with Fairfax Asia. As their Advisor, he will be working on strategy, leadership development, analytics and innovation across multiple high growth insurance markets across Asia, including Sri Lanka. He has also been appointed as a non-executive Director of a leading healthcare management company in India. 

A veteran in the field of insurance, Dr. Jha beats the odds by playing the corporate strategy somewhat differently – by striving to be the best and not necessarily the biggest. With this mindset, during the last five years, Dr. Jha has been instrumental in creating a fresh and dynamic brand in the local insurance industry that is led by the values of empathy, authenticity, transparency and responsibility. 

As a true testament to his vision, within a short span of five years, the company has received many local as well as global accolades recogniSing its efforts in Innovation, world-class service standards, brand, governance and employee and community engagement. 

Recently, Fairfirst became the only Sri Lankan company amongst 22 global companies listed in the ‘2020 Top Insurance Workplaces in Asia-Pacific’ by Insurance Business Asia. Also, the company marked another milestone by being the youngest brand to be awarded the Gold in the Insurance Category and Silver in Best Digital Marketing Innovation across all sectors at DIGIS 2020 organised by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing. 

Over the years, Dr. Jha has established a reputation for achieving successful turnarounds, delivering efficient M&As, creating and nurturing high performing teams, driving empathy-led innovation, and running successful businesses with solid governance structures. His efforts in building a sensible and sensitive brand is directly linked to his advocacy of “business being a force to do good”. 

With this mindset, he guided the company to engage with several community and social welfare focused investments to enhance the wellbeing of the community the company operates in.  

Since joining Team Fairfirst a year ago as the Chief Strategic Officer, Gopal has settled well in the company and has increasingly engaged with the business. Gopal brings with him a multi-dimensional international experience by having worked at many multinational corporates such as Barclays, RSA, Allied World and Swiss Re, in UK, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Commenting on this transition, Dr. Jha states, “During these last five years, I have been immensely grateful to be in Sri Lanka. Fairfirst today is a leading insurer and corporate brand in Sri Lanka. With extremely cohesive and high performing teams, we have a nurturing culture that enables the best in each one of us. In my future role, I am thrilled that I will continue to be associated with Fairfirst and Sri Lanka. While I will be relocating to India, I will always look forward to visiting this beautiful island and meeting its gracious people, many of whom are now close friends.”  

Among the top general insurance companies of Sri Lanka, Fairfirst serves individuals, businesses and institutions across this beautiful island through a versatile workforce spread across a comprehensive branch network, affinity partners and leading brokers in the market. Fairfirst Insurance is also part of the Canadian based Fairfax Group. 

Fairfax, through its subsidiaries, has an international insurance and reinsurance business with a global underwriting reach, longstanding relationships and a broad product range. Fairfax has a strong foothold in the growing insurance and reinsurance markets of Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Brazil.