Could you provide a brief journey of how you arrived where you are today?
I started my career as a management trainee in New India Assurance in India. I also handled the insurance of the country’s largest fertilizer project during the early years as well as heading an international branch of the company.
Furthermore, I worked on a joint initiative between a conventional insurance company and Gulf Islamic Bank in the late nineties to set up a Takaful operation.
What does your role involve?
I took over a startup company when its balance sheet was deep in the red. The role primarily involved bringing the company’s operations back to profitability without sacrificing its growth potential.
This required a total overhaul of its operational and control structure and a fresh look at its short to medium-term business strategies. We received an approval to convert the company’s existing business into Takaful, making it the first in the country.
What is your greatest achievement to date?
My greatest achievement will be when this company returns to the black with a strong profitability trend next year. It gives me lot of satisfaction to see the team that was part of my start up operation in India do really well in their insurance career.
Which of your products/services deliver the best results?
It is not about products but the people behind them. We tend to forget that insurance is really about a ‘promise’ — we deliver the best results in all those products where we have this core principle in place. Get back to basics and the results are bound to be good.
What are the strengths of your business?
The strength of our business is our people.
What are the factors contributing to the success of your company?
We focus on the core strategies, the people delivering it and our customers.
What are the obstacles faced in running your business today?
Some of the obstacles are uncertainty in the market, shortage of trained local resources, lack of training programs and outdated legal and regulatory frameworks.
Where do you see the Islamic finance industry in the next five years?
I believe that Islamic finance has made considerable progress and while not on par with conventional but they are influential enough to hold on its own. Part of its success has been its adoption by some of the global entities like HSBC, Citi, Standard Chartered Bank, etc.
Takaful on the other hand has been slow and its evolution has been patchy, although in Malaysia it has experienced greater levels of success whereas in GCC it is still struggling with its business models.
In the next five years, I would hope to see a greater level of co-ordination and standardization in the Takaful companies and regulatory bodies.
Name one thing you would like to see change in the world of Islamic finance.
I would definitely like to see a fundamental change in the Takaful services. Community and solidarity are at the core of the Takaful spirit and balancing this with shareholders’ return is a tough act to follow.
Finding a balance will actually enhance the experience for all the stakeholders.