Sri Lanka Insurance holds AGM online

SLIC Chief Executive Officer Chandana L. Aluthgama, SLIC Chairman Jagath Wellawatta and SLIC Director Surekha Alles at the AGM held online 

Sri Lanka Insurance held its Annual General Meeting via Zoom online platform on 7 July. The Chairman and Board of Directors participated in the meeting from their respective locations adhering to the COVID-19 health and safety standards issued by health authorities.

During the Annual General Meeting, it was declared that the company has closed year 2020 on a positive note, recording phenomenal growth with exceptional service innovations.

Sri Lanka Insurance, the premier insurer to the nation, recorded stellar performance in 2020 to record profit before taxation of Rs. 7.9 billion for the year 2020, with a strong improvement in combined Gross Written Premium (GWP) of Rs. 39.4 billion denoting growth of 16.65%.

In the year of 2020 Sri Lanka Insurance reported 29.9 % growth in life insurance premium increasing to Rs. 19.8 from 14.8 billion whilst Sri Lanka Insurance General reported 6.27% premium growth increasing to Rs. 20.1 billion. General insurance contributed 51% towards the total GWP whilst life insurance contributed 49%.

In continuing with its tradition of leadership, Sri Lanka insurance in 2020 surpassed its own record to declare a sum of Rs. 8.6 billion as bonus to policyholders. The cumulative life insurance bonus paid out during the past 15 years tops a massive Rs. 73.2 billion, making the SLIC bonus pay-out unmatchable.

“Inclusive insurance or, as I like to call it, ‘Insurance for All,’ is something I have consistently reiterated, for it is without a doubt one of the best ways to safeguard the quality of life for every Sri Lankan. Insurance helps everyone, even those at the base of the economic pyramid. A majority of Sri Lankans are unaware that insurance acts as a safety net in times of crisis and can provide people and businesses with a lifeline to help them recover from unforeseen events to re-establish their livelihoods. What is more disconcerting is that the lack of awareness has given rise to the misconceptions that insurance is a product for a privileged few. The task of delivering ‘Insurance for All’ is no easy feat. However, with over 59 years of expertise in serving the Sri Lankan market, I am convinced SLIC is best equipped to lead the movement to make insurance accessible to all,” noted SLIC Chairman Jagath Wellawatta.

“Notwithstanding the challenging macroeconomic environment and large-scale disruptions due to the COVID-19 outbreak, SLIC delivered an excellent performance in 2020, even outperforming the industry on many fronts. With our perceptions and outlook coloured by the pandemic, we embarked on a new strategic planning exercise aimed at mapping out SLIC’s growth trajectory for the next three years. Eager to put our plan into action, we advanced the first phase of our agenda and undertook a broad based restructuring initiative to embed a greater degree of management oversight across the general business and the life business, which we felt would pave the way for SLIC to systematically improve the scalability of each business, based on specific opportunities in the market,” noted SLIC Chief Executive Officer Chandana L. Aluthgama.  

Established in 1962, Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation is the largest State-owned insurance company in Sri Lanka, with a managed asset base of over Rs. 235 billion and a Life fund of Rs. 134 billion, the largest in the local insurance industry. Sri Lanka Insurance ranked as the ‘Most Loved Insurance Brand’ and the ‘Most Valuable General Insurance Brand’ in the country by Brand Finance for the fourth consecutive year. Further Sri Lanka Insurance was recognised as a ‘Great Place to Work’ in Sri Lanka by Great Place to Work. The company is on the mission of being a customer focused company which constantly innovates in providing insurance services to customers and is now serves customers through an extensive network of 158 branches.