Ceylinco Life’s Joe Karunaratne completes 50 years in Life insurance

Life Insurance leader Ceylinco Life has announced that insurance veteran J.S. (Joe) Karunaratne, currently a Life Consultant with the company, has achieved the rare feat of completing  50 years of active, uninterrupted service in the local life insurance industry.

Karunaratne (67) entered the industry as a 17-year-old school leaver in 1962, the year that insurance was nationalised. He qualified as a Chartered Insurer, and in 1977 underwent specialised training on Life insurance in Switzerland with the global reinsurer Swiss Re.

With the creation of the National Insurance Corporation (NIC) in 1980, he was selected to head the corporation’s life insurance division and was instrumental in designing policies and formulating guidelines for the seven companies that were working as principal agents for NIC and was its Chief Life Underwriter.

After the privatisation of insurance in 1987, Karunaratne shared his knowledge as a lecturer for the Diploma in Insurance course and contributed to the development of the industry as a member of various bodies in the industry. He was also a member of the inaugural committee of Insurance Association of Sri Lanka.

Karunaratne has been employed at Ceylinco Life as a consultant since 2007. “Joe Karunaratne’s depth of experience and wide knowledge have been invaluable to our efforts to improve penetration of life insurance in Sri Lanka,” Ceylinco Life’s Managing Director and CEO R. Renganathan said.  “He is a member of the team at Ceylinco Life that was responsible for setting the benchmark in the industry for speedy settlement of claims. His five decades in the industry reflect his remarkable commitment to his chosen field.” Ceylinco Life, which has been the Life insurance market leader since 2004, celebrated its 25th anniversary on 14 January 2013.