The industry must work harder to improve its image: EAIC panel

Insurers need to improve their image if they want to continue to connect with potential customers, especially younger generations, panellists at this week’s East Asian Insurance Congress (EAIC) argued.

Guat Lan Loh, group managing director and chief executive officer at Malaysia’s Hong Leong Assurance, told the panel, titled “Confronting the common foe: rectifying the image and increasing visibility of insurance in the socioeconomic value chain”, that in some senses insurance had a similar reputation to that of gambling. 

“It’s fundamentally very risk-based,” Loh said. “Life insurance is very much delayed gratification, and the current perception is to do with insurance never being high in the list of priorities. 

“A lot more education and persuasion are needed.”

Sally Wan, chief executive, AXA Greater China, said any negative image mostly stemmed from perceptions around claims. She asked: “Does the population understand why they’re claiming?” She added that not all perceptions were becoming more negative, noting that the COVID-19 pandemic created a lot more awareness of the need for health insurance.

One self-inflicted problem was the complexity of policies, said Michael Shin, chief executive of RGA Korea and chief marketing officer, Asia.

“The product we offer to the public, especially in Asia, is too complicated,” Shin said. “I’m not sure our agents or customers truly understand what they’re buying, and we have to find a way to simplify what we offer to clients.”

Shin said the industry did two things very well: risk management and financial protection. “We all face unexpected things, and insurance is there to help with uncertainty. We should continue to educate our citizens on the role we play,” he said. 

Oran Vongsuraphichet, secretary general of the Thai General Insurance Association, said there was room for improvement in terms of claims. One issue was the industry’s lagging behind other financial institutions in terms of digitisation. 

“Banking digitised before we did, and we have to catch up,” he said.

“We can report how much in claims we have paid during stressful times.”

Improving the image

Loh said the insurance sector was taking steps to improve its reputation, citing the Professionalism of Insurance and Takaful Agents initiative, which imposed more stringent requirements for examinations in order for agents to carry on with their careers, as well as more stringent onboarding processes for recruits. 

Wan said the insurance industry needed to work more closely with regulators and governments. “On the education and visibility side, we can promote how many trillions of dollars the insurance industry has invested into society. We can report how much in claims we have paid during stressful times and how much we can do—there is a lack of promotion and marketing.”

Shin stressed the importance of working with influencers on marketing. “The UK Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur came to Seoul and its main sponsor is AIA,” he recalled. “In the stadium I saw nothing but AIA signs. Son Heung-min is a Korean player, and the image of the company got much better.” He urged insurers to utilise famous figures to market their businesses. 

Loh suggested five factors that can potentially enhance the industry’s image: (1) connecting communities to achieve financial inclusion; (2) implementing corporate social responsibility programmes; (3) enhancing social protection for lower-income groups; (4) empowering youth as leaders of the future; and (5) developing human capital.

Shin concluded by arguing that agents should emphasise providing benefits over just selling products.

For more news from the East Asian Insurance Congress conference (EAIC) click here.

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