Ceylinco Life’s 2015 Annual Report secures double at ARC Awards in New York

Ceylinco Life’s 2015 Annual Report has won two important accolades at the prestigious ARC Awards presented by MerComm Inc. in New York, affirming the life insurance leader’s prowess in financial disclosure.

The company won the Silver award for ‘Financial Data’ in the ‘Insurance – Life & Health’ segment of the awards, as well as ‘Honors’ in the same segment in the ‘Traditional Annual Report’ category at the awards ceremony at the Plaza Hotel.

Themed ‘Know Your Life Insurer’, Ceylinco Life’s 2015 Annual Report was its first since the segregation of Life and General Insurance into separate business entities under Section 53 of the Regulation of Insurance Industry (Amendment) Act No 3 of 2011, which came into effect last year.

The 218-page Carbon Neutral Annual report was produced using GRI G4 sustainability reporting guidelines, the Smart Integrated Reporting Methodology, the International Integrated Reporting Framework and guidelines of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka).

“The Annual Report is the most important communications tool of a company, and stands for the company’s commitment to transparency in its communications with shareholders,” Ceylinco Life Managing Director/CEO R. Renganathan said. “We are delighted to receive these awards from a credible international organisation that has scrutinised Annual Reports from around the world before selecting winners.”

Dr. Vijith Kannangara, Chairman of Smart Media The Annual Report Company said: “This maiden annual report of Ceylinco Life sets a refreshing new standard in the Insurance category in Sri Lanka. It focuses on the important facts without diluting them in a surfeit of disparate information.” The 2016 MerComm awards competition drew entries from 60 countries. The ARC Awards competition is unique in that each Annual Report is judged against itself, based on its success in communicating its company’s story. Judging is based not on corporate profitability or production, but on the values of creativity, clarity, effectiveness, and excellence as symbolised by the ARC Awards. 

Some of the elements considered in the judging of the Annual Reports included cover design, president’s letter, interior design, clarity of written text, presentation of corporate information, expression of financial data, and how well the spirit of the organisation is communicated. Annual reports scoring in the top 30% were awarded Honors, Bronze, Silver and Gold certificates of outstanding achievement.

The award presenter MerComm Inc. is the world’s only independent awards organisation dedicated to defining the standards of excellence in the communications fields and to recognise the individuals whose work has made an outstanding contribution to their organisations, corporations or clients. The MerComm Awards programs have achieved world-wide recognition for their integrity and fairness in their judging procedures.