Actuarial Partners Consulting

Legends of Takaful Conference Applying lessons from the first 40 years of Takaful to drive Takaful into the future 9 December 2024 EQ Hotel An eye-opening conference by Actuarial Partners Consulting building from the Legends of Takaful podcast. Some key lessons: Panel 1: Spreading Takaful Globally & Retakaful Development - Emphasize understanding Islamic banking contracts as foundational knowledge. - Takaful represents not just a product but a religious commitment rooted in Tassawur Islam. - Takaful operators often opt for reinsurance over retakaful due to profit commission benefits. - Back to basics: Focus on training and involving stakeholders, including Majlis Agama Islam, for sustainable growth. Panel 2: Distribution of Takaful - To grow underserved and unserved segments, leverage affinity groups with the right cost structures and market volume. - Embrace digitalisation and industry-wide collaboration to streamline processes. - Examples like ZhongAn show the value of launching a minimum viable product (MVP) quickly. This includes standardisation, templates, and agile project management. - When investing in new technology, measure ROI based on accuracy, benefits, and intangible returns like reputation, employee and customer satisfaction. Panel 3: Takaful Models & Role of Training - To reach underserve segments avoid complex terms—use simple language in Malay. - BNM-approved FinRe (musyarakah contracts) show the versatility of Shariah-compliant models. - Move away from hard selling—focus on heart selling: connecting emotionally, not just selling products. - Don’t replicate conventional insurance. Innovate! - Educate customers about tabarru’: contributing to a shared fund to help others in need. Addressing Medical Cost Challenges - Rising medical contributions due to hospital overcharging (buffet syndrome). - Introduce co-payment to increase customer awareness of costs. - Borrow lessons from motor insurance—implement NCD (no claims discount), manage workshops, implement parts price database, etc. - Shift customer mindsets: highlight claims and contributions helping others in hardship. Final Thought - A healthy Takaful ecosystem pays claims—target products with a 90% loss ratio to ensure real value to participants. Let’s continue to innovate, educate, and collaborate for the growth of Takaful globally.

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all panelists and participants for joining the Legends of Takaful Conference yesterday at EQ Kuala Lumpur.    In celebration of 40 years of Takaful, we had a full day of enriching discussions on the global spread and distribution of Takaful, insights into various Takaful models and Retakaful practices, and strategies for shaping the future of the industry.   The conference honoured legends of the past, with pioneers who laid the foundations of Takaful, and celebrated the legends of tomorrow, with current CEOs driving its progress. We look forward to witnessing the growth and innovation Takaful will achieve in the next 40 years.   Thank you again for being part of this milestone celebration! #takaful #actuarialpartners #malaysia

We are pleased to announce the “Legends of Takaful Conference: Applying lessons from the first 40 years of Takaful to drive Takaful into the future.”, in commemoration of 40 years of Takaful in Malaysia. For one day only, we will bring together the founders of the first Takaful companies in Malaysia and key experts of the Malaysian Takaful industry past and present including: Dato’ Fadzli Yusof, the founding CEO of Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Dato’ Syed Moheeb Syed Kamarulzaman, the founding CEO of Takaful Ihklas Zainuddin Ishak, the founding CEO of HSBC Amanah Takaful Mohamad Salihuddin Ahmad, founding CEO of PruBSN Takaful Details of the conference are as follows: Conference Title: LEGENDS OF TAKAFUL CONFERENCE Date: 9th December 2024 Time: 9:00am to 5:30pm Location: EQ Hotel Kuala Lumpur, Jalan Sultan Ismail Click on the newsletter below for the brochure and we hope to see you there!

We are looking for actuarial interns. Ideally can start in December. Please email [email protected] Thank you!

FInancial literacy is a ticking time bomb in Malaysia and around the world. It is up to us to take up the mantle and explain the issues in simple terms for the good of the country. #financialliteracy

Yesterday, Actuarial Partners conducted a one-day programme called The New Retirement Landscape. It was an engaging event where experts, industry leaders, and participants explored Malaysia's path towards becoming an ageing nation by 2030. Discussions revolved around the realities, challenges, and opportunities in retirement planning as people are living longer and the Malaysian demographics are changing. Some key insights from sessions: 1. Optimizing Medical & Health Insurance (MHI): Weng Chiat Ng, principal consultant from Actuarial Partners, shared helpful strategies to get the most out of our medical & health insurance. He explained how policyholders can balance personal and group insurance plans and use co-payment options to make health coverage more flexible and affordable. 2. Enhancing Financial Literacy – Budgeting and Retirement Planning: Raja Arina Safra, a senior consultant at Actuarial Partners, emphasized the importance of financial literacy, reminding that planning for longevity risk is essential to secure a stable retirement.    3. Comprehensive Retirement Planning: Integrating Strategies for Post-Retirement Security: Teh Su Ann, also a principal consultant at Actuarial Partners, integrated the insights from earlier sessions and offers effective strategies and tools to build a robust retirement plan which includes EPF’s drawdown plan and reverse mortgage by CAGAMAS.     The seminar continued with an inspiring fireside chat with Professor Dato' Dr. Mohamed Ali Hassan. He shared his own retirement journey and reminded us how important it is to plan early and set retirement goals that match our personal lifestyle. The day ended with an engaging panel discussion on the topic of ‘Is it possible to have a Private Public Partnership to address our retirement needs?’. The panel members comprised of: - Nor Azman Zainal, Group CEO of Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Berhad  - Balqais Yusoff, Head of Policy & Strategy Department at EPF   - Siti Nur Shuhada Binti Nor Baharin, Actuarial Officer at PERKESO   - Weng Chiat Ng, FSA, FASM, Principal Consultant at Actuarial Partners Consulting Moderator: Zainal Abidin Mohd Kassim FIA, Consulting Actuary, FIA, FASM, Managing Partner of Actuarial Partners Consulting This discussion highlighted the importance of working together to create new solutions to meet the different retirement needs of Malaysians.    A special thank you to all the speakers, panelists and participants who helped make this event a success. #retirement #financialliteracy #medicalcoverage #copayments #budgeting  

During his tenure at Labuan Re, how did Ismail Mahbob, now Chairman of Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Am Berhad, successfully market the company to an international audience? While building a professional network was essential, establishing a personal brand also played a key role. With a touch of creativity, Ismail made his name more memorable by introducing himself as "I Smile," adding a personal and approachable touch that resonated with global partners. Catch this fruitful discussion on our YouTube channel Youtube page here: https://lnkd.in/gRJ9WDUE or listen on Spotify here: https://lnkd.in/ggBYiSXW For more insights into Takaful, explore our website at https://lnkd.in/gmH8-6Cc for compelling articles and learn more about the subject with our specialized courses on Takaful available on our learning and development platform at https://lnkd.in/g_Uy_xSm. Stay updated on the latest episodes by subscribing to our mailing list (https://lnkd.in/gwDQPqcw) and be the first to know when new content drops! #takaful #insurance #personalbranding #labuanre #networking #malaysia

My colleague, Joanne Law, and I had the pleasure to speak on BNM’s exposure draft on RBC at a life industry event organised by Hannover Re exclusively for Life Insurance Association of Malaysia members. Joanne spoke on the reasons for the current drive for solvency regimes to be aligned with financial reporting and the different pressures of the two. For me, beyond highlighting the key changes in the exposure draft and the rationale behind them, I spoke on what insurers should be doing in light of the introduction of this ED. Some highlights • Firstly, perform quickly the QIS to assess impact and recognise pain points • Find ways to optimise capital further – and hence improve return on capital for shareholders. Consider what management actions can be formalised and hence used in the RBC computations. What reinsurance support is available – are these cost effective, are they efficient? What is the impact of these new source of capital - for eg the treatment of negative reserves? • Revisit the strategic asset allocation or SAA – are there opportunities to lower asset risk charges by better matching against liabilities, are there areas where investments in return seeking, growth type assets that are now less penal? Investment return should not be looked at in silo – assess the risk adjusted returns, look at the returns net of capital cost. Also check on exposure to single issuers to avoid any concentration risk charge. • Investigate and develop new products that can produce better risk adjusted value of new business – perhaps to take advantage of the diversification benefits. I alluded to longevity type cover. Can participating products be designed to be less capital intensive – there is advantage to consumers of a pooled investment approach in managing their savings and hence why participating business was popular before. We also learnt from Philip Beytel at Hannover Re the custom financial solutions that are available to support insurers and even potential investors. A day well spent catching up with LIAM CEO Mark O’Dell and other industry players, not to mention the days and nights preparing the materials! Thank you to the Hannover Re team for having us Soeren Kruse.