Mr Khor Hock Seng , who was elected yesterday as the new president of the Life Insurance Association (LIA) Singapore , said that the association would focus on three areas this year.
These are: transforming the workforce for the future, driving innovations to increase the accessibility of insurance and stepping up public education in collaboration with partners to help bridge the mortality and critical illness protection gaps. These focus areas are also aligned with national priorities and LIA’s long-term goals.
Mr Khor, who is Great Eastern Life Assurance group CEO, said that talent transformation is a top priority for LIA, with the industry pursuing business expansion and digital innovation. He stressed the importance of raising the skills of the current workforce and moving towards higher-value jobs.
He also urged the industry to be innovative in making insurance more accessible while keeping compliance and privacy concerns in mind.
Mr Khor was elected as LIA's new president for a one-year term of office at LIA’s 17th annual luncheon where other newly elected management committee members were also introduced.
Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) assistant managing director (banking & insurance) Ho Hern Shin, who also spoke at the luncheon, reiterated the significance of leveraging technology to improve customer experience, boost efficiencies and innovate. She called for the industry to strengthen trust with consumers, especially in the digital age.
Mr Khor also said that LIA is currently engaged in discussions with MAS and other major stakeholders to explore collaboration on public education efforts. LIA considers public education to be a core solution to bridging mortality and critical illness protection gaps. In upcoming months, the association will be sharing findings of its protection gap study conducted last year and announcing industry-led initiatives mainly focused on public education.
When asked how the industry plans to bridge the protection gap among millennials, Mr Khor said that the issue lies in the whole life insurance experience to their context. “The insurance industry would need to transform and you could probably see a move to digitalisation,” he said.
Commenting on market prospects, Mr Khor said he expected Singapore’s life insurance industry to record slower growth this year but acknowledged this would be hard to predict due to current global uncertainties and market volatility.