Insurers must bridge the communication gap that exists between them and the insuring public for insurance penetration to increase in Nigeria.

This was the submission of Mr. Tunde Adeoye from the Lagos Mainland CDA. He said this during the Open Forum at the just concluded 2017 Almond Insurance Consumers’ Forum in Lagos.

The annual Insurance Consumers’ Forum, organised by Almond Productions Limited provides a platform for interaction between stakeholders in the insurance industry and the insuring public in a No-Holds-Barred atmosphere.

The forum this year with the theme: Insurance Penetration in Nigeria: Shifting Focus from Policies to Providing Value for the Customers was chaired by the former Group Managing Director, Royal Exchange Plc Mr. Chike Mokwunye while the Guest Speaker was Prof. Festus Epetimehin, first Professor of Insurance and Risk Management in Nigeria.

Speaking during his presentation on the theme of the forum, Prof. Epetimehin said that the practitioners are themselves responsible for the ‘No demand state of insurance by the public because they have not embraced any pragmatic marketing approach. Insurance according to him should be aggressively marketed. The present marketing mix of most insurance companies does not reflect that.’ This he said indicates that there is lack of innovation in product development and risk taking, narrow product lines, unscientific methods of premium determination, policy wordings that is meaningless to the consumers and shoddy survey leading to insufficient information. This entirely sums up the fact that the industry is not responsive to consumers needs.

In his welcome remarks, the chairman of the occasion, Mr. Mokwunye noted that for the insurance industry to take its rightful place in the economy, the regulator (NAICOM) must see themselves as developmental partners against the current practice of policing the industry and operators seen as offenders that must be arrested.

The 2017 Insurance Consumers Forum which began in 2013 was well attended by both corporate and individual customers from various sectors of the economy.

Mr. Eddie Efekoha, Chairman, Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) is now a Fellow of the Institute of Directors (IoD) Nigeria.

The Profile:

• Chairman, Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA)
• Deputy President, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria CIIN
• Chairman, College of Insurance & Financial Management

(a subsidiary of Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria)

• Fellow, Chartered Insurance Institutes of London and Nigeria
• Managing Director/CEO, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc
• Former Executive Vice Chairman of Consolidated Risks Insurers Plc
• Former Managing Director, Fountain Insurance Brokers
• Former Executive Director, Technical – Glanvill Enthoven & Co. (Nig) Ltd.
• Bachelor’s degree in Insurance and Masters’ in Business Administration (University of Lagos)
• Alumnus, Lagos Business School
• Alumnus, Havard Business School
• Member, Ikeja Golf Club, Ikoyi Club 1938, IBB Golf & Country Club, Abuja

A total of 23 outstanding insurance and pension operators as well as the insurance and Pension regulators won the 2017 National Association of Insurance and Pension Correspondents (NAIPCO) Awards for their outstanding performance in their respective sectors.

At the 2nd NAIPCO National Conference, which took place in Lagos, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), National Pension Commission (PenCom) and Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) were given recognition Awards for discharging their duties creditably well, while the Recognition Award for the Best Insurance and Pension Consumer of the Year went to Lagos State Government.

Prof. Joe Irukwu, Mr. Fola Daniel and Lady Prisca Soares won Awards for legendary contributions to the growth of insurance industry, even as pioneer Director-General of PenCom, Muhammad Ahmad was awarded for his legendary contributions to the growth of the pension industry.

Recognition Award for the Best Insurance Company of the Year went to Leadway Assurance Company Limited even as Recognition Award for the Most Innovative and Creative Insurance Company went to Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc.

While Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited got the Best Pension Fund Administrator the Year award, its Managing Director, Mr. Eric Fajemisin, won the Pension CEO of the Year award.

Recognition award for the Fastest Growing Pension Fund Administrator went to IEI-Anchor Pension Managers Limited, with Recognition Award for the Insurance CEO of the year going to the Managing Director, Leadway Assurance Company Limited, Mr. Oye Hassan–Odukale, even as the Most Media Friendly Insurance Company award went to Niger Insurance​ Plc.

Moreover, FBN Insurance Company Limited won the Fastest Growing Insurance Company Award while Boff and Co Insurance Brokers won the Most Media friendly Insurance Broker award, with FBN Insurance Brokers Limited winning the Best Insurance Broker of the Year award.

NEM Insurance Plc got Recognition award for its Iaudable investment in Infrastructural development, while Custodian and Allied Plc won Insurance Consolidation of the Decade Award.

Recognition award for invaluable investment in the Insurance and pension sectors went to Chief Dele Fajemirokun even as recognition award for Insurance Agent of the year went to Asekunowo Sola Helen of Leadway Assurance Company.

Speaking at the event, NAIPCO President, Mrs. Omobola Tolu-Kusimo, said the awardees were chosen after rigorous research and investigation into their financial performance and regulatory compliance of the benefiting companies.

Their performance in terms of balance sheet size, Premium income, Return on Investment, Pension Assets Under Management( for pension fund operators, clientele base and profitability, she said, were taken into consideration when choosing the winners.

The individuals awarded, she added, have contributed to the growth and development of the sectors they play in through investment and advocacy. She equally implored other companies to improve their services to be among the winners next year, urging the awardees not to rest on their oars, but to performance better than what they did in the current year.

The more viable companies we have in both insurance and pension sectors, the better for the economy, as the two sectors will contribute more to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country, she said.

Royal Exchange Plc is set to unlock new growth potentials that will increase consumer value and better returns on investment to its teaming shareholders.

The company with interest in general insurance, life insurance, asset management, healthcare as well as micro finance banking is taking advantage of synergies as a financial conglomerate in its new drive for growth.

This is going to be supported with a new in-road into agric insurance, the country’s new expanding goldmine, having secured approval to underwrite agric-business from the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).

Speaking to shareholders at its 48^th Annual General Meeting in Kano, Mr. Kenny Ezenwani Odogwu, Chairman, Royal Exchange Plc told shareholders that the future of the company is bright, stating that management has done very well in growing the business and bring stability in her operations.

“As always, Royal Exchange stays abreast with many of the initiatives it has put in place to grow its market share and attain market leadership position.”

According to him, the Group is currently streamlining major components of her business, service delivery, processes and operations to deliver superior returns in the short-term to the shareholders.

“This we believe will reposition our great company as not only a major industry player, but as potential game changer, Odogwu assured.

In the financial year ended December 2016, the Group recorded a 16 percent growth in gross written premium from N10.79 billion in 2015 to N12.52 billion in 2016, while total assets of the group witnessed a growth of 19.4 percent, from N26.5 billion in 2015 to N31.67billion as at December 31, 2016.

Alhaji Auwalu Muktari, Group Managing Director, while responding to shareholders questions, stated that Royal Exchange Plc, will strive to pay dividend next year having maximized available growth opportunities, including investment and underwriting during the year.

“For the future that we behold, our goal is to continuously redefine, reinvent and differentiate ourselves in the market place. The focus would be on achieving sustainable growth for our company through deepening of our revenue base, improving service delivery support system and at the same time keeping a lid on our group-wide costs”.

In recognition of the efforts being undertaken to reposition the company, Royal Exchange Plc recently won two awards from BusinessToday Online as the 2016 Insurance Company of the Year while the Group Managing Director, Alhaji Auwalu Muktari was also adjudged the 2016 Insurance Man of the Year.

About Royal Exchange Plc

Royal Exchange Plc started operations in 1918 and continues to be driven by innovation and a determination to offer services that are of exceptional value to its customers.

Following the recapitalisation exercise in 2007, the company was reorganised into a group structure comprising Royal Exchange Plc as the holding company and five strategic subsidiaries namely:

• Royal Exchange General Insurance Company Limited (Non-Life Insurance Services)
• Royal Exchange Prudential Life Plc (Life Assurance Services)
• Royal Exchange Finance and Asset Management Limited (Financial Advisory Services)
• Royal Exchange Healthcare Limited (HMO and Health Insurance)
• Royal Exchange Microfinance Bank Limited (Banking Services)

The United Nations, Singapore’s Central Provident Fund (CPF), The UK National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) and Amundi have all been awarded Pensions & Investments WorldPensionSummit 2017 Innovation Awards.

The winners received their awards at the eighth WorldPensionSummit in The Hague, Netherlands. The Technology award was won by the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, for its creation of a bespoke data handling system, IPAS. Runner up in this category was the Philippines’ Government Service Insurance System.

The CPF won the award for Communications, after the judges recognised the plan’s success in reaching younger members through its #ICanAdult campaign, which reached more than 2 million savers through social media. The runner up was New Zealand’s Kiwi Wealth Limited. NEST took home the Investment, prize, after introducing a fund targeting climate change reduction into its default strategy. The runner up was the Transport for London Pension Fund.

The award for Plan Design went to Amundi Global Servicing for its multi-employer cross border pension plan, which can comply with legislation and regulation in seven different European jurisdictions, reducing cost and complexity for multi-national employers. The runner up was the Natal Joint Municipal Pension/Provident Fund of South Africa. Chris Battaglia, CEO WorldPensionSummit and Group Publisher P&I, said: “Today’s winners and finalists represent a gold standard in the areas of pensions technology, communications, investment and plan design. “Their commitment to raising standards in their markets, and the examples they set to pension plans around the world, is exceptional, and I am proud to be recognising all of them today.”

The P&I WorldPensionSummit Innovation Awards recognise best practice among pension plans and funds worldwide. Winners and runners up are chosen by a panel of experienced global pensions industry figures. It is one of several P&I initiatives to reward high standards in the pensions industry, which also include the Defined Contribution Excellence and Innovation Awards and the “Eddy” Awards, which recognise outstanding efforts in education and communications for retirement plan participants.

No fewer than 21 outstanding companies and individuals in insurance and pension sectors will get awards at the upcoming 2017 Conference of the National Association of Insurance and Pension Correspondents (NAIPCO).

The conference billed to hold on 25th of October, 2017, at Oriental Hotel, Lagos, will be a gathering of stakeholders from the two sectors as well as their customers.

The shortlisted awardees were chosen after rigorous research and investigation into their financial performance and regulatory compliance.

According to the Association, performance in terms of balance sheet size, premium income, return on investment, pension assets under management (for pension fund operators, client base and profitability were equally crucial factors considered to determine award recipients.

Also, they were examined on how impactful and innovative their products are, sizing the opinion of their respective customers who patronise their products.

On individual awards, the awardees must have contributed to the growth and development of the sectors they play in through investment or advocacy.

The qualified companies and individuals are expected to be unveiled at the conference.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Insurance, Alhaji Mohammed Kari, will deliver the Keynote Address at the conference. Kari is expected to address the forum on the level of regulatory compliance of the insurance operators as well as policies of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) aimed at increasing insurance penetration and acceptance in the country.

The Acting Director General, National Pension Commission (PenCom), Mrs. Aisha Dahir-Umar and the Executive Secretary, Pension Transitional and Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), Mrs. Sharon Ikeazor, will also deliver keynote address, while the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, will be the Guest Speaker.

Investor and Industrialist, Chief Dele Fajemirokun, will chair the occasion, while the  Iyaloja of Lagos, Mrs. Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, will lead the delegation of market women and traders in Lagos State to grace the occasion.

The 3-in-1 event, designed to discuss burning issues bothering on the two sectors, will also accommodate the launch of the Association’s Quarterly Journal, NAIPCO Trumpet and Awards for deserving legendaries and operators in the insurance and pension sectors.

NAIPCO President, Mrs. Omobola Tolu-Kusimo, said the association was extra careful in choosing companies and individuals to be awarded, using the aforementioned parameters, to ensure that those awarded qualify for it.

“As an association, we have been distancing ourselves from issuing awards because of the ways awards are politicised these days. But we believe the public will believe us the more if we award  company A for its outstanding performance, using credible criteria.

“This is because this is a sector most of our members have been reporting for decades and have critical knowledge of how each firm operates.”

She stated that the motive behind organising the conference was to find a way of increasing insurance and pension awareness in the country as well as developing the sectors to increase consumer value and contribution to economy.

NAIPCO Journal, which would also be launched at the event, she added, is a project of the association also aimed at increasing insurance and pension awareness, adoption and penetration in the country.