Chanaka Liyanage takes over as Chief Agency Officer of AIA Sri Lanka

8th May 2023: AIA Sri Lanka is pleased to announce the appointment of Chanaka Liyanage as the company’s Chief Agency Officer, effective 01st April 2023. In this role, he takes over AIA Sri Lanka’s Agency Sales Distribution with over 100 Branches, 4,000 Wealth Planners and 500 Agency Leaders spread across Sri Lanka. In his new role Chanaka will lead the next phase of the agency trajectory of the company, focused on growth and expansion of AIA’s unique Wealth Planner centred agency sales channel.

Chanaka commenced his journey with AIA Sri Lanka in November 2019 and was seconded to TATA AIA India on a short-term assignment, where he was part of the project team, that launched TATA AIA’s full time Premier Agency channel in India. Functioning thereafter as the company’s Deputy Chief Agency Officer, he was instrumental in shaping the digital transformation of the company’s Agency Channel.

Chanaka started his career as a banker with HSBC Sri Lanka, joining as a Banking Assistant and going up the ranks of Senior Manager, ending up as the Head of Sales of HSBC Sri Lanka.

He holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Southern Queensland, an Advanced Diploma in Management Accountancy (CIMA) and a Diploma in Marketing from the Charted Institute of Marketing (CIM). He has been a member of the eminent Panel of Judges for the National Sales Congress (NASCO) by SLIM since 2016.  He is a proud product of Royal College Colombo 07.

AIA’s CEO Chathuri Munaweera congratulated Chanaka on his appointment while noting, “At AIA Sri Lanka, we are very proud of our Wealth Planner Agency Sales force, and it has been a privilege to develop young leaders in the caliber of Chanaka to take on its new generation of senior leadership positions. Chanaka’s extensive background in the financial industry, innovative business development mind-set and energetic leadership style will no doubt strengthen our Channel Distribution.  It demonstrates our commitment to people development and our ambitions to grow and expand our unique market and customer presence in Sri Lanka to serve millions of people to live healthier, longer, better lives”.

Chanaka commenting on his new role, added, “coming from a financial and marketing orientation, life insurance was a natural fit for me in my career journey.  I feel privileged to lead AIA’s team of outstanding Wealth Planner sales professionals who believe in truly making a difference, working tirelessly towards protecting Sri Lankans. We are a part of one of the world’s largest insurers and in Sri Lanka, we represent a top-notch Wealth Planner team with a strong digital and branch presence.  Together, we are committed to providing protection to our customers and solidifying our position in leading in our chosen markets.”