Awarded Life Insurance Company of the Year at Business Leader Awards

April 07, 2021: Affirming its leadership in the country’s fast-growing insurance industry, Sri Lanka’s premier life insurer Union Assurance recently celebrated a sweeping victory with six top awards at the Business Leader of the Year event organised by the World Leadership Congress. The awards ceremony was held on 6th April 2021 in Mumbai, India.

Most prominently, Union Assurance was awarded the highly coveted Life Insurance Company of the Year and Most Admired Company of the Year titles, for its customer-centric adoption of a digital operating model to deliver a superior value proposition based on innovation and strong brand attributes.

Meanwhile, Union Assurance’s Chief Executive Officer Jude Gomes was bestowed two prestigious awards – CEO of the Year and Visionary Leader of the Year, in recognition of his exceptional leadership drive to invest in people, products and processes driving innovation and transformation in the face of the unprecedented challenges of 2020. Additionally, Senath Jayathilake, the organisation’s Chief Distribution Officer, was recognised as the Young Business Leader of the Year (under 40) for his immense contribution in equipping the sales vertical with dynamic skills and developing value-chain systems that made these skills transferrable to sales.

Commenting on their latest achievement, Union Assurance Chief Executive Officer Jude Gomes stated, “I am humbled to witness these achievements for Union Assurance. It is our colleagues who stand steadfast behind the successes we have achieved. Our promise – Your Life, Our Strength is what drives us to deliver protection to over 250,000 Sri Lankans every day. I am truly honoured to be a part of this winning team.”

Further, Union Assurance’s partnership with Nations Trust Bank was acknowledged as the Bancassurance Leader of the Year for their prolific partnership, which has paved the way to formidable and sustainable annual growth by empowering the dreams, ambitions, and lifestyles of Sri Lankans.

“These recognitions and appreciations stand for our commitment towards our customers and employees. While these awards are a reflection of our success of the past, looking ahead, we will focus on diversifying our distribution channels, optimising our bancassurance partnerships, enhancing customer service and supporting our teams  to enhance our market presence and drive our digital leadership agenda,” Gomes added further.

With performance fueled by digitisation and consistent innovation, Union Assurance has continued to revolutionise the Sri Lankan Life Insurance industry with multiple initiatives, including adopting a digital operating model to introduce a simplified insurance product made available online. The company has invested a significant amount of resources into increasing employee engagement and retention rates during the difficult past year.

Amidst the challenges of COVID-19, Union Assurance was entered into the Great Place to Work (GPTW) Hall of Fame and recognised as a Great Place to Work for the 8th consecutive year. The organisation also produced the highest number of Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) achievers in Sri Lanka, further strengthening the credibility and quality of its salesforce with the inclusion of highly qualified insurance advisors.

Union Assurance is a part of the John Keells Group, Sri Lanka’s largest listed conglomerate, completing over three decades of success with a market capitalisation of Rs. 18 Bn, a Life Fund of Rs. 42 Bn and a Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 325% as of February 2021. Set to empower the Sri Lankan Dream, Union Assurance offers Life Insurance solutions that cover education, health, investment, protection, and retirement needs of Sri Lankans. The company was recently recognised as LMD’s #1 Most Awarded insurance company in Sri Lanka and received the most respected international accolade for financial advisors in life insurance for producing the highest number of MDRTs (Million Dollar Round Table achievers) in 2020. With 75 branches and an over 3500-strong workforce, Union Assurance continues to invest in people, products, and processes with a customer-centric focus to be responsive to emerging trends in the Life Insurance industry.