New team driving force for Takaful Malaysia

Source: The Star, 20th August 2007

It’s all systems go for one of the country’s largest and the oldest Islamic insurers, Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Berhad (Takaful Malaysia), with its new line-up in the senior management team.

After pumping new blood into the team, the company is now more focused and on track to maximising its shareholder value and providing value-added services to customers.

Group managing director Hassan Kamil said that when he took over as the new chief of Takaful Malaysia, he realised there were several weaknesses that needed to be rectified to put the company on a stronger footing in the Islamic insurance sector.

“When I was appointed to the board of BIMB Holdings Bhd (the parent company of Takaful Malaysia) in September 2006, I realised there were a few areas that needed to be put in order.

“After identifying the grey areas, the board decided to make some changes. Due to my extensive experience in the industry, coupled with my actuarial background, I was asked to helm the company,” he added.

Hassan was appointed to the present position on April 1, taking over from Md Azmi Abu Bakar.

Prior to that, he was executive director of BIMB Holdings and a non-independent and non-executive director of the company.

Hassan worked in the United States as an actuary from 1987 to 1994 before returning to Malaysia to be deputy general manager at Malaysia National Insurance.

In 1996, he joined ING Insurance Bhd (previously Aetna Universal Insurance) as senior vice-president and chief actuary. In 2004, he became deputy general manager for P.T. AIA Indonesia and later moved to BIMB Holdings.

After heading Takaful Malaysia, he brought a new and dynamic team to head the operations, human resource, investment, audit and information technology divisions.

According to Hassan, many former key personnel left the company because they could not adapt to the rapid changes taking shape in Takaful Malaysia.

“Now that we have the ‘key generals’ in place, we are ready to face the competition, maximise shareholder value and offer customers the best. The new team will help drive and enhance the group’s business moving forward,” he noted.

The next thing the company would do is to beef up the middle management team in all divisions. This covers, among others, operations, information technology, finance and actuarial, and he hopes to complete this exercise by year-end.

Hassan said Takaful Malaysia wanted to maintain its position as one of the largest takaful operators in the country.

He felt that Takaful Malaysia had an added advantage because of its mudharabah model as opposed to the wakalah model adopted by other players.

Under the former model, the management expenses are fully borne by the shareholders, unlike the latter where these expenses are paid by the participants. Under the wakalah model, participants tended to take a “haircut” in their contributions, he said.

The company was the first takaful operator to introduce the mudharabah model, and it is still the only one currently adopting it.

The company recently became the first takaful operator to be conferred an AA Syariah Quality Rating by Bahrain-based Islamic International Rating Agency (IIRA).

The rating reflected IIRA’s opinion that Takaful Malaysia conformed to very high standards of syariah requirements and quality analysis in its operations and business.

He pointed out that he would strive to improve the group’s performance.

For the financial year ended June 30, 2006, the group reported a net profit of RM33.4mil on the back of operating revenue of RM969.1mil.

For FY05, net profit stood at RM27.6mil on RM822.4mil in revenue. Total group assets expanded to RM3.22bil from RM2.79bil previously.

On expansion plans, he said the company was considering possible tie-ups with major foreign insurers keen on venturing into the takaful business in Malaysia.

The company is also talking to one of the largest local banks in Indonesia on the possibility of the latter acquiring a stake in its subsidiary, P.T. Syarikat Takaful Indonesia.

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