Amãna Takaful wins ‘Entity of the Year’ at SLIBFI Awards

Friday, 27 June 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

‘KruthaGuna’ bags Gold for Product of the Year

Amãna Takaful PLC was awarded the prestigious Gold Award in the ‘Islamic Finance Entity of the Year’ category at the Sri Lanka Islamic Banking and Finance (SLIBFI) Awards held recently. At a gala ceremony held in Colombo, the composite insurer was also recognised for its

unique hospitalisation cover ‘KruthaGuna’ which won the prestigious ‘Product of the Year’ award. The Annual SLIBFI Awards were introduced in 2012 to recognise and honour individuals and institutions for their contribution and performance in the Sri Lankan Islamic Banking and Finance industry. The SLIBFI Awards highlight excellence in the industry and give special recognition to institutions demonstrating outstanding performance, innovation, use of technology and a significant contribution to society. The awards ceremony was held as part of a gala evening which celebrated the gathering of the SLIBF fraternity. Accolades were awarded in multiple categories which were keenly contested. The nominees were selected after a thorough auditing process conducted by KMPG auditors, who partnered as the official adjudicator. Commenting on these prestigious accolades, Amãna Takaful PLC CEO Fazal Ghaffoor stated: “It is a great honour to be adjudged ‘The Best Islamic Finance Entity of the Year’ in Sri Lanka. We are also very proud to have ‘KruthaGuna’ win the ‘Product of the Year’. It is a product that we truly believe in and we are proud that it has been recognised. At Amãna Takaful we strive to provide the best services and products to our customers while delivering the best to our stakeholders, profitably and productively. These awards are a welcomed acknowledgement of our hard work and the trust our policyholders place in us.” Ghaffoor added: “Being in operation for the past 15 years as the pioneer and only fully-fledged takaful operator in the country, this accolade is a true testament to the stability, growth and acceptance of the takaful way of risk management that we bring to the financial services industry in the country.” Amãna Takaful has been successful in its journey of 15 years in establishing a strong position for the concept of Takaful amidst stiff competition from other conventional industry players. The ‘KruthaGuna’ policy was introduced last year as a unique insurance cover designed specially to take care of the hospitalisation needs of those over 55 years of age. The policy provides financial security and much needed support in times of need against hospital medical bills, home nursing care, cost of cataract operations, concessions on wheelchairs and many more benefits. Amãna Takaful General Manager Sales and Marketing Adel Hashim, commenting on the recognition, stated: “Amãna Takaful is the first insurer in Sri Lanka to offer a comprehensive hospitalisation policy which covers existing ailments. The company believes that it is meaningless to offer a policy for elders without extending cover for an existing ailment. Hence, the cover is granted with a waiting period of 12 months to eliminate misuse.” Amãna Takaful was also adjudged as the ‘Best Islamic Financial Services Provider in Sri Lanka’ last year by the UK’s International Finance Magazine. The composite insurer is one of the few ISO certified insurance operators in Sri Lanka and operates in three key strategic business units specialising in Life, General and Medical insurance categories. The company operates in 25 locations in the country and intends to keep expanding. The current Board of Directors of Amãna Takaful PLC includes Tyeab Akbarally (Chairman), Ehsan Zaheed (Executive Director), Non-Executive Directors – Osman Kassim, Dr. A.A.M. Haroon, Dr. T. Senthilverl, and Non-Executive Independent Directors M.H.M. Rafiq, Dato’ Fadzli Yusof, A.S.M. Muzzamil, Ali Sabry, Dr. Ifthikar Ismail and R. Gopinath.