Softlogic Life’s 2020 Annual Report Asia’s first to obtain external assurance on integrated reporting

Cover of Softlogic Life’s 2020 Annual Report 

Softlogic Life Chief Financial Officer Nuwan Pushpakumara

The 2020 Annual Report of Sri Lanka’s fastest-growing life insurer, Softlogic Life, recently became the first entity in Asia and Sri Lanka to obtain external assurance on integrated reporting practices. This

reflects Softlogic Life’s commitment to transparent and objective reporting towards shareholders and other key stakeholders. 

Obtaining assurance over integrated reports is an emerging trend, with Softlogic Life receiving what is referred to as external assurance for its 2020 report. 

After the Board of Softlogic Life sought assurance on the financial statement information and integrated reporting, KPMG reviewed the report to assess whether it had been prepared in line with the guiding principles of the International Framework and to ensure it covered the key content elements. The auditor confirmed that the most significant data, statements and assertions within the report regarding the IIRC’s activities had been extracted appropriately from underlying documentation and appropriate external sources.

Prepared under the theme ‘One Lankan,’ it’s an ode to the million Sri Lankans who have entrusted Softlogic Life with their protection and care for a million reasons. The company’s dynamic portfolio of products and services is designed to safeguard and empower these people, while its agility to evolve has helped Softlogic Life align its trajectory to contribute to the nation’s growth ambitions. 

The 2020 Integrated Annual Report provides a comprehensive but concise account of how Softlogic Life has created value for its stakeholders in 2020 and its 21st year of operations. The report has closely followed guiding principles and fundamental concepts in the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) Framework to serve the information needs of stakeholders best. 

Commenting on the decision to obtain external assurance on the 2020 Annual Report, Softlogic Life Managing Director Iftikar Ahamed said: “As a leading life insurance entity in Sri Lanka, we have long recognised the role assurance can play in building trust and confidence in integrated reports and this trend has been reflected by developments we see globally. We are extremely proud to obtain this as Asia’s first insurance company, which is a huge milestone for the entire industry. We also believe the lessons we learnt in obtaining assurance will help us in our conversations with businesses around the world that are also embarking on the journey to provide investor-grade information in their integrated reports.”

Furthermore, Softlogic Life has presented the video version of its integrated annual report for the fourth consecutive year. Unveiled in 2017 as Sri Lanka’s first video Annual Report, Softlogic Life’s innovative approach aims to enhance user-friendliness and simplicity, encouraging key stakeholders of the company to familiarise themselves with their comprehensive content integrated annual report.

Available now on YouTube and Softlogic Life’s official website, the video showcases several key details of this year’s Annual Report using unique infographics —financial outcome which include gross written premium (GWP) achieved, profit before tax (PBT) and Year-on-Year (YoY) growth, business operating context to the business process of the company, intellectual capital to human capital, innovations and new products unveiled by Softlogic Life in 2020 and risks to opportunities. The new medium of information allows the company to communicate their data with policyholders, employees, investors and other external stakeholders in a visually fitting and digital way.

Commenting about the success of this initiative, Softlogic Life Chief Financial Officer Nuwan Pushpakumara said: “The positive feedback we have been receiving since 2017 from our stakeholders for the video Annual Report confirms the success of this landmark innovation. We are humbled to present a well-crafted video version for the fourth consecutive year, which translates how well the overall business strategies have elevated Softlogic Life during a tough year to become the third-largest entity in the life insurance industry with sustainable growth.”

Softlogic Life recently announced that despite all the difficulties associated with a thoroughly disrupted COVID year 2020, the company grew revenues to record Gross Written Premium (GWP) of Rs. 15.6 billion, an increase of 25%, making it the fastest company to that mark. One in every three policies taken up in 2020 was a Softlogic Life policy with the company insuring over one million Sri Lankan lives. Softlogic Life was also ranked third largest in the life insurance market, rising one more notch during the year and has overtaken much older players to establish strong growth momentum with market share increasing to 15.2%.

The 2019 Annual Report received many awards and accolades, including three awards at the 24th SAFA best presented Annual Reports Awards organised by the South Asian Federation of Accountants hosted by CA Sri Lanka. Softlogic Life has been ranked as the seventh most transparent listed company on the Colombo Stock Exchange as well as the most transparent insurance company in Sri Lanka by Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) in its latest report titled ‘Transparency in Corporate Reporting (TRAC): Assessing the Top 50 Listed Companies in Sri Lanka’. Softlogic Life has scored a TRAC score of 7.9, making it the only insurance company in Sri Lanka to be included in the top 10 list.