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Takaful Malaysia aims to expand its market share in the general takaful business after recording higher turnover and earnings for its 2017 fiscal year. The company increased its revenue by 6.5% to RM2.14 billion year-on-year due to the higher sales in the family and general takaful businesses. Group CEO Datuk Seri Mohamed Hassan Md Kamil said the company maintained its lead position in the family takaful segment and the fire and motor classes’ gross contribution shot 20% up from FY16 to close at RM591 million. He added that Takaful Malaysia is also in the middle of enhancing its digital capabilities. Significant investment has been made in tools, applications and new technologies to improve operational efficiencies and enhance the customer experience. The takaful operator surpassed the RM200 million mark for the first time since its inception in 1984, growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 27%.

Takaful Malaysia plans to introduce new product solutions to improve its growth rate. The company said it made significant investments in tools, applications and new technologies to improve operational efficiencies and customer experience. For the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2017, Takaful Malaysia’s net profit stood at RM56.3 million, 43.4% higher than the RM39.26 million recorded in the previours period. Revenue increased 5.5% from RM490.82 million to RM517.74 million. Its full-year net profit soared 17.3% from RM176.28 million to RM206.7 million, with revenue rising 6.3% from RM2.01 billion to RM2.14 billion. Takaful Malaysia group CEO Datuk Seri Mohamed Hassan Kamil said the group’s profit surpassed its target and for the first time exceeded RM200 million since its establishment. He added that the group takaful business and general takaful gross contribution grew 20% from the previous financial year to close at RM591 million, mainly derived from the fire and motor classes.

In this interview Peter Gross from MicroEnsure talks about Microinsurance and Microfinance. He defines microinsurance as insurance for emerging customers. These types of products are specifically designed for an underserved population that typically can’t get access. MicroEnsure is a specialist provider of Insurance for customers in emerging markets and has registered over 55 million customers in 10 different countries in Asia and Africa. MicroEnsure partners with over 70 different insurers. Their biggest shareholder is AXA, alongside Omidyar Network, IFC and South Africa’s Sanlam. For distribution, the products need to be able to be offered and distributed through the masses. Making an easy to purchase process over mobile or other e-platforms is critical. From an operational perspective, MicroEnsure needs to assume a lot of mistakes on the data input from the consumer. MicroEnsure’s technology is fully API-enabled and can be easily plugged into their distribution partners.

The global takaful industry is expected grow significantly thanks to consolidation and regulatory improvement in some countries. The December 2017 acquisition of Al Hilal Takaful by Takaful Emarat in the UAE has attracted international attention for the market potential of Islamic insurance, but also the obvious necessity for consolidation. In the UAE there are no less than 34 domestic and 27 foreign conventional and Islamic insurance companies touting for a customer pool of just 10.5mn people. Saudi Arabia’s insurance market is also largely fragmented, with 33 listed takaful operators competing against each other. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar already introduced new regulations specific to the takaful industry, while Kuwait has a new insurance law draft. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is the largest market for takaful industry, the second-largest chunk is mainly spread over Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. The future potential of takaful in the GCC is certainly driven by the reduction of state benefits which increases demand for products such as life and health insurance.

#Oman's Al Madina Takaful announced the appointment of Usama Al Barwani as chief executive officer (CEO). Al Barwani was the acting CEO. He was one of the key people involved in transforming the company from a traditional insurance company into Oman’s first takaful insurance company. With a strong track-record of success, the company was recently awarded the Best Arab Company in the insurance category and he was also the recipient of the Best Arabian 100 CEO Award. Al Barwani has a degree in Strategic Management and Leadership ED (CMI) and has a Post Graduate Diploma in HRM in Information System Management and Education (CABA, Canada).

Great Eastern Takaful has appointed Shahrul Azlan Shahriman as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Shahrul Azlan was the Chief Distribution Officer in Prudential BSN Takaful, with local and international experience in multichannel distribution. Great Eastern Takaful Chairman, Datuk Kamaruddin Taib said Shahrul Azlan was the best person to steer the company given his vast experience and established track record. He added that in Malaysia there was tremendous potential for Great Eastern Takaful to serve the underinsured and fast-growing Islamic insurance market in the country.

Green Dome Financial Services has launched the UK's first Sharia-compliant home insurance policy. The company has begun selling policies that meet Islamic restrictions on uncertainty and usury, or unreasonably high interest rates, while falling within the scope of the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority.

Improving insurance profitability is expected to result in Islamic insurance players refocusing their sectors. According to Moody’s analyst Mohammad Ali Londe, the motor and medical insurance sector have benefited most from the recent premium rate increases in Saudi Arabia and UAE. Therefore, Moody's expects Takaful operators to refocus their underwriting and servicing operations on these lines. Previously, weak underwriting results in the core medical and motor lines forced Takaful insurers to widen their product offerings. GCC Takaful insurers’ results for the first nine months of 2017 reveal that underwriting profitability has improved in most countries. In UAE, motor premium rates rose in 2017 as a result of the country’s new unified motor policy which provides standardised coverages. The improvement in Takaful insurers’ underwriting profitability has started to reverse the previous deterioration in their capital adequacy.

Islamic insurance services were formally launched yesterday in Kano, Nigeria. The launching ceremony of Jaiz Takaful Insurance was held at the premises of the palace of the Emir of Kano. The managing director of Jaiz Takaful Insurance, Mahmud Moussa Joof disclosed that the sector has currently recorded 25 to 35% global growth. He added that Takaful insurance was open to everybody as against contrary insinuations from certain quarters. At the ceremony, the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sunusi II lamented over the faulty payment system by insurance service providers in Nigeria. The Emir urged operators of the Islamic Insurance business to be honest to Kano people, while urging Kano people to form cooperative groups to access the Islamic insurance services, affirming that, subscribing to insurance services is permissible in Islam.

Takaful Emarat has agreed to acquire Al Hilal Takaful from Al Hilal Bank. The all-cash transaction will create the largest Islamic insurer in the UAE. The move is viewed as part of a consolidation drive in the Gulf’s takaful sector to offset weak profitability. Mohammad Al-Hawari, managing director of Takaful Emarat, said the deal would drive growth through a wider range of takaful services and a larger customer base. The merger is subject to full regulatory approvals and is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2018. The transfer of Al Hilal Takaful’s ownership to Takaful Emarat will have no impact on current takaful policies, contracts, claims settlements or the writing of new insurance business.

Syarikat Takaful Malaysia said it has formed a partnership with AmBank Islamic and will market its general takaful products across the country. The takaful operator said that general takaful products for motor, fire/house and personal accident will be distributed across Ambank Islamic's distribution channels. The two companies will also promote new general takaful solutions tailored to Ambank Islamic's customers. Takaful Malaysia group CEO Datuk Sri Mohamed Hassan Kamil said he was delighted to bring the group's general takaful solutions to serve the evolving needs of AmBank Islamic customers.

Saudi Arabia’s insurance industry needs more consolidation and foreign input to help create solid companies. According to Ahmed Alkholifey, governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA), there are some small firms which are incapable of surviving in the market in their current condition. There are 33 insurance firms listed on the country’s stock exchange with a combined market value of $11.1 billion. The governor said two foreign firms would soon increase their stakes in Saudi insurance companies, but did not mention names. Banque Saudi Fransi sold an 18.5% stake in Allianz Saudi Fransi Cooperative Insurance to Allianz Europe BV. In June, Al-Ahlia Insurance started non-binding talks with Gulf Union on a proposed merger. An agreement is expected to be reached by the first half of 2018.

The Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, is expected to launch Kano branch of Jaiz Takaful Insurance on Monday 30th October, 2017. Jaiz Takaful's CEO Momodou Musa Joof said the company would tap Emir Sanusi’s royal blessing to improve on insurance penetration in Nigeria and Kano in particular. The ceremony which will partly feature parley between the top management officials of the Company and Kano business communities and associations, would have the Company’s Board Chairman, Dr. Umaru Abdul Mutalab as a special guest.

Saudi Arabia’s central bank is preparing tougher rules for insurance companies. A new supervisory framework will be introduced in the coming months that will force insurers to boost capital significantly and improve internal risk controls. The moves are aimed at triggering consolidation in the insurance industry and forcing weaker companies to merge with stronger ones. The proposed changes were discussed during a meeting between officials of the Saudi Arabia Monetary Authority (SAMA) and senior insurance executives. Saudi Arabia’s insurance market is fragmented, with only a few companies dominating the sector and an abundance of smaller firms unable to make inroads. The central bank does not want the smaller companies to fail, as more than half of the shares are owned by politically sensitive retail investors in a market unaccustomed to liquidations.

Insurance technology or insurtech strives to innovate the insurance business of risk management. As a subset of fintech, insurtech uses big data to form a precise risk profile of the subject that is being covered. According to Maybank Ageas CEO Kamaludin Ahmad, one example is the telematics system in vehicle-monitoring. He said the intended market would include logistics companies, delivery companies and even small-medium enterprises with only three to five vehicles. Kamaludin believes insurtech can be sold and will be beneficial to people. However, it requires a change of mindset. Maybank Ageas and its household brand Etiqa Takaful are dominating the market share, capturing over half the total insurance and takaful market. Some argue that the size of the Maybank-Etiqa insurance is too big, to the extent of being deemed a monopoly. Kamaludin thinks Maybank is far from monopolising anything, the focus is not on pushing sales, but on being the best in the sector.

The merger of National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) and First Gulf Bank (FGB) in the UAE last year had triggered a number of unconfirmed reports of bank mergers across the GCC. However, most of these reports were denied by bank managements. While bankers and analysts say the time is ripe for more bank mergers, they expect more merger deals to happen in the Islamic banking and Takaful industry. A proposed merger of Kuwait Finance House and Ahli United Bank is expected to result in second biggest Islamic Bank in the GCC after Al Rajhi Bank. The merger of Qatari banks Masraf Al Rayan, Barwa Bank and International Bank of Qatar is progressing and is expected to complete by end of the year. Some countries have only a small number of local banks, which limits competition. This means that profitability has remained solid and is therefore less likely to be a driver for M&A. Another stumbling block is the ownership structure of GCC banks, well established local private shareholders often control sizeable stakes and foreign banks only hold minority stakes.

Investors in Saudi Arabia are betting insurance stocks will be key beneficiaries from allowing women to drive. An index composed of 33 insurance stocks rose the most in three months. The Company for Cooperative Insurance, or Tawuniya, increased the most in seven months, other beneficiaries include Al Rajhi Takaful and Walla. The announcement to allow women to drive is one of the most dramatic moves in the government’s bid to open up society. Accroding to Jaap Meijer, head of research at Arqaam Capital, the number of cars in Saudi Arabia is likely to increase at least 20% in the next ten years as a result of the decision. He added that the increase is expected to be gradual. Net loss ratios on female drivers is likely to be lower than for men, as empirical evidence suggests that women are in fact safer drivers than men.

American International Group (AIG) has placed the first Shariah-compliant mergers and acquisitions (M&A) insurance policy in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA). AIG’s Warranty and Indemnity insurance product helps protect buyers and sellers from financial losses if misrepresentations occur. Buyers can distinguish bids, sellers can reduce indemnity obligations. AIG was advised by global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, led by corporate/M&A partner Adjou Ait Ben Idir. Associates were Agnieszka Braciszewska (lead associate), senior associate Rachel Moylan (IT/IP aspects) and of counsel Louisa Lynch (real estate aspects). Partner Dominic Stuttaford advised on tax aspects. Mark Storrie, M&A Manager at AIG said M&A insurance provided a unique solution for MENA clients investing both in the region and globally. He was very pleased to have placed the first M&A policy in the region.

The UN Environment’s Principles for Sustainable Insurance Initiative is the largest collaboration between the United Nations and the insurance industry. It announced its partnership with the Microinsurance Network, a global multi-stakeholder platform for the international microinsurance community of experts and institutions.
The partnership is expected to advance the social and financial inclusion dimension of sustainable insurance with the goal of closing the insurance protection gap.
Katharine Pulvermacher, Executive Director of the Microinsurance Network said in an interview: “We are committed to achieving our vision of a world where people of all income levels - particularly the underserved, are more resilient and less vulnerable to daily and catastrophic risks. We believe that access to insurance and better risk management to reduce vulnerabilities are essential to sustainable development, and the world’s poor will not achieve lasting prosperity without them”.

Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister in charge of the economy Mehmet Simsek announced that they have established the infrastructure of the interest-free insurance system. He noted that there have been no separate regulations for Islamic insurance or insurers so far, adding that the regulation is of great importance. He suggested that many questions in the framework of Islamic insurance will be answered with the new regulation. Simsek informed that in addition to serving interest-sensitive citizens, the system will also attract capital from the Gulf countries to Turkey. The system is based on the UK model, which is seen as an opportunity for Turkey as well. The Deputy Prime Minister also pointed out that one of the most important opportunities that the system brings to citizens is the balance return.