IBSL seeks Indian assistance to address industry gaps
The Insurance Board of Sri Lanka (IBSL) is planning to get assistance from its Indian counterpart in a bid to address gaps in the local insurance industry and also build capacity for actuarial scientists, officials said.
“We requested the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India for a consultant to do a report on the industry and on the gaps that need to be addressed,” an IBSL official told the Business Times. He said that a consultant is due next month.
Sri Lanka has only one actuarial scientist, according to the IBSL. An actuarial scientist applies mathematical and statistical methods to assess risk in the insurance and finance industries and Actuaries, as they’re called are professionals who are qualified in this field through education and experience. In many countries, actuaries must demonstrate their competence by passing a series of rigorous professional examinations. “We’ll also explore capacity building to develop more actuaries,” the official said.
Also, he said, the IBSL has got a few inquiries from more foreign insurance companies to set up in Sri Lanka.
The official said that firms are interested in getting into the general insurance sector, with insurance classes of motor, marine, property, liability, medical and all other classes coming within the general insurance classification. In March this year, Arab Orient Insurance owned by the Al-Futtaim Group launched Orient Insurance, while American International Assurance Company Ltd (AIA) signed a deal this month to buy a 92.3 per cent stake in Aviva NDB Insurance for US$ 109 million, from British insurer Aviva and Sri Lanka’s National Development Bank.
The IBSL in a press statement said that total Gross Written Premium (GWP) income for general insurance and long term insurance businesses for the six months up to 30th June 2012 was Rs. 43.78 billion which reflected a growth of 13.45 per cent compared with the first six months of last year. “The general insurance business and long term insurance business witnessed a growth of 20.70 per cent and 4.28 per cent respectively in GWP income during the first half of 2012 when compared to the same period in 2011,” it said.
The statement added that GWP income of general insurance business amounted to Rs. 26.02 billion when compared to Rs. 21.56 billion in the same period last year, while the GWP Income of Long Term Insurance Business amounted to Rs. 17.76 billion (when compared to the Rs. 17.04 billion first half of2011) during the first six months of 2012.
Total Assets of the insurance companies have increased to Rs. 279.10 billion as at 30th June 2012 when compared with Rs. 265.41 billion recorded as at 31st December 2011.
The statement said that IBSL had some 46 insurance brokering companies, registered with them and that those insurance brokering firms mainly concentrated on general insurance business and their total GWP generated from both general insurance business and long term insurance business amounted to Rs. 6.31 billion during the 1st half of 2012, compared to Rs. 4.94 billion during the same period in 2011.
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