IslamicFinance.de

Takaful Ikhlas Sdn Bhd is looking to boost its family takaful business, regarded as a long term saving mechanism, to drive the company's growth and profitability further. According to its president and CEO Ab Latiff Abu Bakar, the company's family takaful business should grow by another 10% to contribute 70% of its gross contributions in the next three to four years. For the financial year ended March 31, 2012 (FY12), family takaful made up just over 60% of the operators contributions at RM501 million. One opportunity for growth is the expansion into corporate or group business which remains under-penetrated but a good way to reach the masses at a faster and cheaper rate. Takaful Ikhlas will also look to introduce new products packaged with Islamic services to further grow its family takaful segment.

The Financial Services Act (FSA) and Islamic Financial Services Act (IFSA) which are expected to come into force by the middle of this year, would require composite insurers and takaful players to split their life and general insurance businesses under separate licences. Takaful Malaysia group managing director Datuk Mohamed Hassan Kamil said the Act would have an impact not only on talent hiring but also on retaining the existing talent, and would lead to staff pinching, resulting in higher wages but little improvement in productivity and efficiency. According to analysts, the impact would be felt more by takaful operators due to the higher number of composite or dual licences issued to them compared with conventional insurers.