9th Middle East Insurance Industry Awards 2022

Zurich International Life (Zurich) has been named the Life Insurance Company of the Year for its dedication to its customers – helping them to fulfil their protection and savings needs.

Every year, Zurich launches its Customer Benefits Paid Report, exploring crucial health risk trends in the Middle East and highlighting the need for early action and adequate financial protection. Its 2022 report identified cancer among women and heart attack and stroke among men as the leading causes of critical illness and life cover claims, serving as a true eye opener and an important educational tool in the company’s interaction with the community. The release of the annual report was supported by an integrated PR and marketing campaign which helped to increase awareness and educate consumers in the Middle East about the need for life insurance and critical illness protection, encouraging them to take optimistic action to be financially prepared and ready for life.

Zurich also makes sure to keep the customer at the heart of its digitalisation initiatives. Through ZurichPro, the company’s fully digital quote, application and underwriting solution, and Zurich Online, its digital self-service platform, the company aimed to elevate the customer experience, providing a seamless journey. Zurich engages its customers using everyday language, harnessing data for efficiency and personalised customer experiences, and has digital solutions in place such as e-KYC, digital signatures and automated underwriting processes, based on future-proof architecture.

These initiatives yielded tangible results – 31% of customers fulfilled services online in 2021, which represented a 56% increase over 2020. The company also saw 800,000 Zurich Online logins in 2021, and 400,000 logins by the end of May 2022, with the adoption rate of services offered online steadily increasing month by month.

In 2021, Zurich actively took part in the annual Clean-Up UAE campaign organised by the Emirates Environmental Group. Zurich was the main campaign sponsor, and over 50 Zurich employees volunteered among 8,150 people, contributing to collecting 30 tonnes of waste to preserve natural sites across the UAE. The company also cares deeply about social equity and through Zurich Cares, it recently adopted two classrooms at Al Noor Training Centre in Dubai, supporting youth of determination.

Abu Dhabi National Insurance Company (ADNIC) has been named General Insurance Company of the Year for maintaining strong financial performance while constantly implementing social and sustainability initiatives and contributing to the development of local talent.

ADNIC continues to deliver strong financial results with a healthy combined ratio of around 80%. The company’s gross written premiums have registered a growth of 20.2% to AED2.28bn ($620.7m), compared to the same period the previous year. The company’s financial rating has also been upgraded to ‘A’ with a stable outlook by ratings agencies.

ADNIC also engages strongly with all stakeholders through its various initiatives in areas including Emiratisation, health and wellbeing, climate change and giving back to the local community. This year, ADNIC has renewed its partnerships with several CSR initiatives, and is a partner of Emirates Nature-WWF, where it contributes to local conservation projects and helps pave the way for the UAE to achieve its net-zero goals.

The company also developed a UAE national talent programme called ‘Emkanati’, which will train Emiratis in ADNIC’s business underwriting divisions as the company is working towards enhancing the skills of its workforce to ensure they develop essential technical, behavioural and leadership skills required in their current and future roles.

ADNIC implemented wellness programmes for its employees and customers as well. For customers, the company has recently deployed its health and wellness app ‘LiveWell’, part of its objectives of adapting to customers evolving needs and building a strong relationship based on outstanding service delivery and unique features.

For employees, ADNIC has implemented a new personalised approach to employee appreciation. The company launched a new recognition programme as part of its wider people strategy to enhance employee engagement and enable a culture of appreciation and celebration of exceptional work.

And in efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, ADNIC’s consumption of utilities such as electricity and water has decreased between 2019 and 2021. Last year, the company sent 10,000kg of paper to a recycling centre to be processed into recycled paper products.

Cigna has been given this award for staying true to its commitment to expanding access to care through innovative but simple, affordable and flexible solutions.

Last year, shifts in the healthcare landscape paved the way for Cigna to bring to a cluttered insurance market much-needed clarity and a refreshing promise to make quality healthcare more affordable.

Cigna Middle East and Africa launched its ‘No more compromises. Choose Cigna’ campaign – a bold call-to-action for individuals and companies to choose from its new range of plans. The brand campaign went live in the UAE in June 2021, running for four weeks across digital, outdoor billboards, radio, and social media. To date, the campaign has reached more than 1.2m people through its digital channels.

The year 2021 also saw Cigna expand into Oman. After studying the needs of the Omani market extensively, and in response to the evolving market regulations, Cigna developed a tailored suite of locally compliant products that cater to the needs of Oman’s diverse local and expat population.

In 2022, Cigna received the participating insurer license issued by the Dubai Health Insurance Corporation. Through this license, it is able to offer affordable and accessible health insurance solutions to a wider group of lower salary band employees. It also launched Thiqa Top Up plans to provide full medical coverage to UAE nationals in Abu Dhabi, enrolled under the Thiqa programme offered by the government of Abu Dhabi.

Cigna has also partnered with LVL, a digital and physical ecosystem that provides world-class well-being services to people at the world’s most forward-thinking organisations. The partnership enabled Cigna to bring an innovative online employee well-being platform to all its Middle East and Africa customers at no extra cost, enhancing the company’s holistic health services offering.

To stay ahead of the curve, Cigna has resumed its annual 360 WellBeing Survey study, which tracks the health and well-being of people across the world. The study records people’s physical and mental health, as well as family, financial, social, and work well-being – giving an accurate understanding of people’s whole health and providing the company with perspective on their needs and the gaps.

Nextcare, a company of Allianz Partners, specialises in providing complete health insurance management and administration services to healthcare payers, including self-insured employers.

With a 20-year track record and business pedigree, Nextcare brings its customers peace of mind. A passion for excellence brings it closer to its clients, who rely on it for their healthcare management needs. A regional presence with global reach, Nextcare provides its clients with the perfect balance between unrivalled customer service and maximum cost optimisation.

Building its digital health services based on thorough market research and using its existing assets, Nextcare has been considered the number one TPA in the region since 1999. With 80% to 90% of renewal policies across the region, it keeps on building innovative solutions including e-health solutions through the MyNextcare app, enabling members to access their healthcare needs.

Nextcare has been pioneering its technology with the launch of several digitally enabled solutions. This is exemplified through its telehealth system built into the MyNextcare app in the UAE, which was later introduced in other countries in the region.

Other features of the app include video consultations, online appointment booking, medication delivery and a virtual assistant.

Nextcare works with governments to ensure that health regulations are followed for the good of its customers and partners. It is fully compliant with the regulatory standards and adheres to local laws and regulations that ensure all companies involved in the insurance industry comply with the insurance laws and regulations that govern the industry.

Its compliance programmes involving anti-money laundering, anticorruption, fraud, economic sanctions and anti-trust adhere to the local laws and local regulations.

It has collaborated with the northern emirates regulator as well as insurance providers to ensure a smooth conversion of claim submissions from paper to electronic, covering the various aspects of the processes.

The commitment and dedication from team members ensured that the interpretation of the regulator’s requirements was fully analysed, translated, developed and implemented into its core software ‘Tatsh’.

This is the first time Solidarity Bahrain has won Takaful Company of the Year. The victory highlights the company’s ongoing efforts to improve its customer experience and quality of insurance products and services.

Solidarity Bahrain remains steadfast in its commitment to three core values – a customer-centric culture; company-wide digitalisation; and takaful principles of cooperation, protection and responsibility.

For Solidarity Bahrain, being customer-centric is not just listening to or asking for customer feedback, but also responding to customer issues with products and services that provide real-world solutions.

For instance, to provide the same level of customer service during off-hours, weekends or even holidays, its customers can now manage virtually all their insurance needs at their convenience through the company’s website, via email and text, and even schedule a video call for a face-to-face meeting.

Solidarity Bahrain has also introduced a variety of innovative insurance products and services, such as personal cyber insurance, sabotage and terrorism cover and solar panel insurance, to cater to the concerns, demands and needs of each consumer groups.

In its ongoing digitalisation efforts, Solidarity Bahrain has rolled out digital services to improve its business model and provide new revenue and value-producing opportunities. Among these digital services include using AI-powered WhatsApp chatbot and Apple Pay service to boost customer experience and improving the ID confirmation process with the adoption of the eKYC solution. In 2021, digital retail transactions grew by a staggering 70% due to its commitment to a company-wide digitisation process.

Solidarity Bahrain has a dedicated board of directors, shariah supervisory board and management team to help the company follow the guiding takaful principles of cooperation, protection and mutual responsibility in every product and service it provides to individual and corporate customers.

The commitment and efforts to adhere to these core principles have resulted in increased profits for the company, which translates into higher dividends for the shareholders.

The Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF) identified the lack of qualified professional actuaries in the local market and set about to solve the problem through the Actuarial Human Capital Initiative.

BIBF did its research and identified a local academic actuarial programme, which was offered by the University of Bahrain (UOB), in which the first batch of students started in 2019 and are expected to graduate in 2023. The institute saw the lack of active connection between the UOB programme managers and the insurance market as an opportunity.

It also identified stakeholders, including the insurance supervision team at the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), the regulator of the insurance industry in Bahrain, and Tamkeen, a semi-governmental body providing funding for professional development.

Taking the lead and acting as facilitator, BIBF continued by adopting an approach of involving all relevant stakeholders and focusing on creating demand based on genuine market need and matching it with a supply of qualified actuaries by designing a comprehensive certification programme. BIBF also connected UOB with the Institute and Faculties of Actuaries (IFoA) to ensure aligning their actuarial academic degree with professional examinations.

The resulting programme included the IFRI Certification by the Society of Actuaries (SOA) which consists of six modules and focuses on equipping candidates with the know-how related to IFRS17 implementation.

Following months of hard work and meetings between stakeholders, CBB passed a first of its kind directive in June 2022, mandating the establishment of an in-house actuarial function and recruitment of an actuarial analyst by June 2023 and a qualified actuary by June 2029. The directive was passed after consultation with the insurance market represented by the Bahrain Insurance Association.

Tamkeen also announced comprehensive support for the certification programme including 100% payment for the IFoA fellowship fees covering membership, examinations as well as exam preparation classes to be conducted by BIBF. Additionally, support included the fees of the IFRI Certification by SOA.

The current programme flow includes recruitment and selection, placement and registration, and a support system implemented that will involve follow up with each candidate and interval sessions with qualified actuaries to provide both the technical support and the motivation for such a demanding programme.

Qatar Insurance Company’s (QIC) primary focus in 2021-2022 was to enhance its digital insurance offerings, as part of its digital transformation programme, by inserting new technology-enabled services to increase the convenience and value for all customers.

QIC has launched many digital services to offer its customers the fastest, easiest and most trusted insurance experience in Qatar, and has seen an unprecedented acceleration of its digital offerings since then.

In 4Q2021, QIC launched an all-new version of its insurance online portal (qic.online), offering the fastest digital solution to buy and renew insurance policies in Qatar. qic.online now allows customers to buy their policies in just two minutes, without any need to scan and submit paperwork, or to call or visit a QIC branch to complete the onboarding process. The launch of the portal has led to a significant increase of retail policies sold and renewed online.

In April 2022, QIC created its Digital Venture Partners (QIC DVP) business unit, aimed at reshaping the digital insurance landscape by building new digital ventures, leveraging existing assets, partnering with big tech and corporates.

QIC DVP now acts as a hub to connect regional and international ventures with strategic growth opportunities through the group’s regional footprint and global reach. The unit will also be setting up a corporate venture capital function to invest into early-stage and growth-stage start-ups that have strategic alignment with QIC DVP’s focus areas.

In April 2022, QIC announced the launch of InsurHack MENA, the first InsurTech hackathon in the MENA region, together with Deloitte and Google Cloud. The hackathon was designed for innovators developing solutions in big tech analytics, AI/ML, behavioural economics and conversational AI to co-build a new health and mobility customer experience.

The total number of applications to join QIC’s InsurHack was 137 start-ups representing 33 countries all over the world. Following a two-day online event on 5 and 6 June 2022, the top 15 participants were offered a place in a one-week InsurTech mentorship programme. The top six teams have been invited to pitch their ideas to potential investors in Doha and will have access to further mentorship and investment opportunities to help develop the InsurTech scene in the MENA region.

In recognition of its ability to enable the insurance industry to innovate and reduce expenses, improve the flux of risk, data and capital within the value chain while removing barriers to entry for new ambitious entities and solving legacy issues of historical industry actors, ATOM Technologies has been named InsurTech of the Year.

Born out of the DIFC Innovation Hub, ATOM is an end-to-end insurance operating system created by insurance professionals. The SaaS platform supports all the activities (insurance and corporate) of entities involved in the insurance lifecycle, starting in its current form with managing general agents (MGAs/MGUs).

The platform enables:

• Entrepreneurship by providing a turnkey solution to the early-stage enterprise
• Cost saving, thanks to improved efficiency across the organisation
• Accelerated innovation that matters when it matters
• Real-time access to data and improved controls supporting fiduciary and regulatory governance
• Seamless data flow and transactions between data producers and consumers, including capacity providers (insurance and reinsurance companies) and brokers
• Open and modular to easily integrate new products and functionalities over time
• Agility, offering swift integration with external applications and data sources

ATOM’s capacity to handle every aspect of MGA operations – distribution, underwriting, claims, accounting, human resources and compliance – in a single environment is not just a unique offering, but also resolves the long-standing issue of workarounds implemented to address multiple software providers’ disparate systems across a segment primarily composed of SMEs in the MGA market.

The company successfully launched ‘ATOM for MGA’ across four MGAs including two Lloyd’s coverholders, operating across 48 risk codes and supporting more than 60 insurance and reinsurance capacity providers and brokers. Since the launch, the ATOM product roadmap has encouraged organic growth, segment by segment, to fully transform the insurance ecosystem to be digitally supported by its robust and unified engine. The next building block on the company’s roadmap, ‘ATOM for syndicates’, will target the managing agent – syndicate operations.

This is the third time that Badri Management Consultancy has scooped the Strategic Partner to the Industry award.

With a presence in the UAE, KSA and Pakistan and operating from four office in these locations, Badri’s clients are spread across MENA including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Egypt and the African region. It has served more than 127 unique clients to date and is currently serving as appointed actuary for more than 15 UAE insurance companies and 23 in the GCC.

Among its competitive advantages include a diversified business model which provides full-service operations, and a host of industryleading products and services. For instance, Badri has been one of the pioneers of introducing stochastic reinsurance optimisation to the KSA market, and as a result, companies are now more informed of how their reinsurance works and what impact different structural changes will have. Badri’s consultants are also playing a role towards the applicationof IFRS9 and IFRS17 by creating literacy in the industry.

With an aim to elevate its services, Badri has also formed strategic partnerships with a number of solutions providers to drive the development of the insurance industry and help clients implement processes and solutions practically. In addition, its acquisition of HR consulting firm métier has played an essential role towards the growth of the insurance industry by offering strategic HR consulting.

To support the advancement of the actuarial profession, Badri signed cooperative agreements with King Saud University and King Fahd University to continue its investment in the development of Saudi actuarial talent and the insurance sector across the kingdom. It also partnered with the University of Karachi to provide study material and exam fee support to candidates studying in the actuarial science programme and wishing to take exams of the Society of Actuaries and/ or the Institute of Actuaries. Around 10-15 students benefit from this scholarship grant annually.

Badri also regularly publishes insurance industry reports for the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Pakistan, as well as periodic newsletters related to medical, IFRS17 and end of service benefits.

As a risk manager who is focused on delivering efficient and effective risk mitigation solutions, Mr Mahboob Khan has been named Corporate Risk Manager of the Year. He is known for sound risk management principles and the provision of stable risk transfer programmes.

Mr Khan established the group insurance and risk mitigation function for Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ) and serves as the managing director for the department. He comes from a risk management background, previously working for FM Global as a high challenge occupancy underwriter and then later managing the EMEA global services department for FM Global in the UK.

He has applied consistent practice and processes by designing a risk mitigation manual and a communication network that runs from the top of the organisation to health and safety individuals within each business unit.

Following the pandemic, he has been steering enterprise risk management discussions across the C-suite to review and consider strategic risks that could also impact the business. This includes supply chain disruptions, geo-political risks, cyber and natural hazard crises.

He has also developed a number of insurance-backed solutions to grow the company’s operational business.

Through the risk register process, the department has identified major exposure to hail damage across main assets stockyards. He has worked with the Met Office in the UK, academic institutions as well as insurance broker research groups to map hail risk exposure across Saudi Arabia. The results of the exercise have allowed him to influence the board of directors to make a major capital investment in protecting important exposed assets against hail risk.

Under his leadership, the department has become an integral part of the infrastructure of the organisation and continues to elevate the contribution of risk management and mitigation principles at the board level.

Clyde & Co has won the Law Firm of the Year award for the sixth time in nine years, a testament to its industry experience and expertise in the insurance industry.

The firm handles a wide range of work for the insurance market across the region with offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Riyadh and Doha. The Middle East team now comprises eight partners specialising in different aspects of insurance law, supported by 20 insurance lawyers who all handle insurance work as part of their day-to-day roles. The firm advises most of the global (re)insurers on their Middle East interests, as well as local market insurers, brokers and service providers.

Clyde & Co’s continued growth is premised on the regional nature of its practice, as well as expansion in specialist areas, where it offers dedicated and expert assistance across every line of business.

In addition, it has several innovative structures to assist clients with legal services such as trade credit debt recovery, cyber incident response and fixed-fee casualty claims.

As the firm continues to grow, it also ensures the sustainability of business by committing to the education and development of the market. For example, the firm’s MENA Training Contract – the first to be approved in the region by the UK’s Solicitors Regulation Authority – increases access to the legal profession for Middle East students, giving them the opportunity to qualify as English-qualified solicitors. Clyde & Co has accommodated 16 trainees since 2013, with an average retention rate of 75%.

Clyde & Co is one of the very few firms to be an accredited course provider for the DLAD in its continuing legal professional development (CLPD) programme. Its experts develop mandatory courses and deliver training for lawyers in Dubai, such as the CLPD programme and the AOL’s DIFC Law sessions.

Through its Clyde & Community programme, the firm has provided more than 2,000 hours in pro-bono legal support for charitable and non-profit organisations in the Middle East with an equivalent value of over $1m over the last 12 months.

Marsh Middle East and Africa had a standout year in 2021. The company launched its main strategic imperatives – reinforcing its core capabilities and focusing on Africa expansion – and its ‘modernisation’ agenda encompassing operations, IT and talent.

Marsh developed its Client Service Progressive Levels framework to equip all client-facing personnel with cutting-edge skills and competencies; provide them with the opportunity to develop their career further in a structured manner; and standardise client engagement credentials across the region. The framework has now been adopted as best practice across Marsh International.

To enhance career mobility, the company also expanded on its learning and development curriculum and offerings to include individual development plans, women’s leadership programmes, managerial development and experienced-based learning and projects.

To date, the framework has seen continued traction with 90% of individual development plans for colleagues completed.

To inspire a culture of innovation, Marsh launched its innovation mentorship colleague programme and relaunched a campaign for the second year to gives its colleagues an opportunity to pitch innovative growth ideas that will allow the company to remain relevant to its clients and to continue to outperform its competitors.

Through its Marsh MEA Influencer strategy, the company continues to leverage its capacity and capability to change public discourse in key areas of impact, namely cyber as well as climate and sustainability with a number of successful digital and social media interventions in 2021, and two virtual roundtables held in 2022 around these topics.

The company is also focused on developing solutions to help keep the projected global temperature increase to 1.5°C, and helping its clients embed pragmatic strategies to adapt and prepare for these changes. It has also achieved certification as a carbon neutral company for all of its global operations.

Marsh is committed to intensifying job creation, competitiveness and small business sustainability through its enterprise and supplier development initiatives such as the Marsh Black Brokers Initiative.

And through its Boost a School initiative, the company is covering college fees for disadvantaged young people from poor communities, raising awareness of children living with disabilities, providing mentorship and donating to schools.

Marsh Middle East and Africa has received the Reinsurance Broker of the Year award for its continuous efforts to grow from strengthto-strength and solidify its position as the leading insurance and risk advisor in the MEA region.

In 2021, Marsh launched various strategic imperatives, reinforcing core capabilities and focusing on Africa expansion and ‘modernisation’ agenda encompassing operations, IT and talent. Marsh delivered exponential growth and improved profitability; future proofing business; and bolstering business resilience through a newly developed go-to-market industry strategy.

Through the consultative mindset frontier, Marsh developed the Client Service Progressive Levels framework to equip all client-facing staff with skills and competencies; provide them with the opportunity to further develop their career in a structured manner; and standardise client engagement credentials across the region. Designed and developed in MEA, the framework has now been adopted as best practice across Marsh International.

With colleague engagement scores on the increase, Marsh has made great strides in the implementation of Colleagues of the Future frontier and therefore created a learning and development curriculum to address its colleagues’ gaps through six identified skills and trainings including workshops, online learning, external seminars and demo sessions.

Through the influencer strategy, Marsh MEA continues to leverage its capacity and capability to change public discourse in main areas of impact, namely cyber and climate and sustainability.

Through the Inclusion and Diversity frontier, Marsh MEA has started with safe space conversations where an environment is created where employees can share freely, honestly and make recommendations to amplify the bonds that connect the team. To date, 30 focus group sessions have been held across MEA based on colleague survey feedback.

To inspire a culture of innovation and through the Innovation frontier, Marsh launched an Innovation Mentorship Colleague programme and relaunched a campaign for the second year that gave employees an opportunity to pitch innovative growth ideas.

Through the corporate frontier, Marsh developed a go-to-market industry strategy that delivers differentiated solutions to its clients based on intricate knowledge of their industry, the risks associated with running their business and a deep understanding of the regional and global (re)insurance marketplace.

Saudi Re

Saudi Re has been named one of the two joint winners in this category for its achievements and strategic commitment to customer-centricity, continuous technological innovation and integrating sustainability.

In 2021, Saudi Re renewed its strategy in light of shifts in market dynamics. Its strategic vision is to evolve into a large and well-diversified reinsurer contributing to the growth of the economy and be ranked among the top 50 global reinsurers.

Diversification remains central to Saudi Re’s strategy as it strives to minimise concentration and accumulation risks to ensure a well-balanced reinsurance portfolio. To achieve this, it has spread the business across multiple lines, striking a balance between proportional and non-proportional contracts and through geographic diversification. Its portfolio spans over 40 markets in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Lloyd’s market.

Thanks to its diversification strategy, its international business represents 57% of the portfolio in 2021. This signifies the company’s ability to deploy its technical and business development capabilities to build a strong footing in the international markets during challenging times to reinforce profitable growth.

To ensure effective engagement with clients, Saudi Re’s client-focused structure includes dedicated underwriting teams directly interfacing with clients and gears to focus on markets with a deep understanding of the risk profile, regulating environment, culture and, most importantly, the clients’ distinctive business requirements in each market.

Saudi Re has established an ambitious digital transformation strategy to empower its underwriting and business operations by providing them with the right tools to operate from any device and location in order to provide its customers with the highest level of service. The strategy is centred on streamlined business processes, data transparency and consistency, analytics, mobility and business continuity.

Saudi Re has developed its social responsibility framework to evolve around sustainability standards and ESG principles and focuses on integrating sustainability across its functions. It is ranked first in ESG performance in the Saudi insurance market and ranked 16th among more than 180 listed companies on the Saudi Stock Exchange as per sustainability excellence.

International General Insurance (IGI)

International General Insurance (IGI) has been named one of the two joint winners in this category in recognition of its unrelenting commitment to excellence.

Established in 2002, IGI is truly a global insurer, with a network of more than 300 employees spread over six offices worldwide, listed on Nasdaq, and specialising in markets it truly understands.

The FY2021 financial results marked another excellent year for IGI as it reported consistently strong quarterly underwriting results and earnings. In 2021 IGI increased its GWP by 16.8% to $546m, expanding into new lines and markets. It also reported a record underwriting income and a combined ratio of 86.4% for the year. With its asset base now approaching $1.5bn, IGI expects to continue its strong performance in 2022, focusing on core strengths and capitalising on sector tail winds.

IGI strengthened its global offering when it received NAIC licence in 2020 to write E&S business in the country. In 2021, IGI continued its expansion into Europe with a new subsidiary in Malta. It has also opened an office in Bermuda in 2022 with a local-based team.

IGI is constantly improving and enhancing its core service offering using technology. Led by its chief technology officer, IGI will continue to improve efficiency and transition to more centralised data management in order to optimise operations and better service its clients.

As part of its corporate and social responsibility commitment, IGI further refined and advanced its corporate citizenship programmes in 2021 and began the transition to a more fulsome ESG strategy. During the year, the reinsurer continued to invest in the communities, supporting charitable causes that align with its values – education, health and the arts among them.

D&I also continues to be a critical focus at IGI, where its people are spread across many countries and cultures. Among the many initiatives, it supported the insurance industry’s Dive In Festival for D&I for the fourth consecutive year in 2021 and has been designated the country lead for future Dive In events in Jordan.

RGA Middle East has claimed the title of Life Reinsurer of the Year for its passion and commitment to make financial protection accessible to all throughout the MENA region.

Through consistent execution of the company’s performance outcomes, the ‘seven Cs’ in 2021-2022, and by expanding beyond core reinsurance capacity, RGA ME has built on its position as a leader in the region.

1. Client-centricity
   For a decade, RGA ME has built its business by proactively supporting client partners in all aspects of their work, while creating value for its investors and society. It works to ensure that more people benefit from the security insurance provides, advancing the company’s purpose to make financial protection accessible to all.
2. Creative solutions
   RGA ME continues to serve the region as a leader in product innovation and process digitalisation. Products and services launched – even amid the pandemic – include embedded critical illness cover, cancer cover, cardiac care and diabetes products.
3. Cultivating client resources through knowledge sharin
   RGA believes that the better informed a client is, the more growth and profitability its mutual strategies will drive. In 2021 alone, while navigating partial lockdowns and remote working, RGA ME conducted over 20 client webinars, workshops and technical training sessions related to underwriting, actuarial and claims. Over 600+ delegates from the MENA region attended the sessions.
4. Commitment to the region
   RGA ME’s skilled and experienced workforce consists of 27 full-time employees, including five qualified actuaries in the actuarial/pricing team of 12 as well as experienced analysis and mortality study experts.
5. Claims management expertise
   RGA professionals provided clients with expert guidance in managing the surge of COVID-19 claims while maintaining timely claims settlement and introducing future-focused imaging and digital tools to claims processing.
6. Community support
   Inspired by the quote ‘The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others will be the beginning of a happier life for ourselves’, RGA ME initiated the ‘Helping WORD (Widows and Orphans in Distress) Project’. Since its inception, over 40 beneficiaries have benefitted from RGA ME’s initiatives.
7. COVID-19 response
   RGA ME was one of the few reinsurers covering COVID-19-related claims in the region. Initiatives included extending cover for individuals who lost all or some of their income during crisis in Oman and providing ongoing COVID-19 research, modelling and quarterly updates to pricing guidelines.

Ms Raghad Hammad has won the Woman Leader of the Year award for her contribution in growing the insurance and reinsurance sector across the MENA region as well as her dedication to empower women.

As the head of the Dubai office and the insurance and reinsurance practice at Zu’bi & Partners, Ms Hammad is the first woman to fill this position in the firm and the youngest woman to be appointed as an executive director in the legal practice in the UAE.

Ms Hammad is an experienced litigator, which has allowed her to develop a considerable understanding of the legal and judiciary systems within the UAE and wider GCC as well as draft court pleadings in complex insurance claims.

She provides advice to a number of multi-national insurers and insurance intermediaries and has worked closely with the local regulators to assist with the drafting and implementation of local insurance regulations.

Under her leadership, the firm’s insurance practice was recognised by Legal500 as Tier 3 in the UAE. She has been selected by Legal500 as the Recommended Insurance Lawyer in the UAE.

Ms Hammad is also dedicated to empowering young talent and women in the workplace.

Since her appointment at Zu’bi & Partners in 2020, she has recruited a 50% women workforce to be part of the firm’s expansion, offering equal opportunity to talented women and provide equitable employment.

During her time in Jordan, Ms Hammad dedicated part of her work to ‘supervised legal practice programme’, where she mentored fresh law graduates under her lawyer license for two years each, till they became qualified lawyers. She trained both men and women lawyers.

In addition, Ms Hammad supports her team to give back to the community, through pro bono work. In support of the medical industry, she has worked closely with the government authorities, TDGRA and DHA to obtain approvals, licenses and exceptions to allow the import of a unique designed hearing aid. This project was delivered on a pro bono basis to support the well-being of children and adults in the country.

Dr Rajai Sweis has been named the Insurance Industry Leader of the Year for his sound leadership, business acumen and progressive vision in leading Middle East Insurance Company (MEICO) as its CEO.

Drawing on nearly five decades of extensive industry experience, Dr Sweis brings to the table not only technical insights and expertise but also, more importantly, a sincere passion for advancing the insurance arena to serve the best interests of beneficiaries across the region.

He is driven by a firm belief in insurance as a noble cause that protects people against unforeseen circumstances and supports them during periods of hardship, translating into a steadfast commitment to giving back to the industry, as well as the community and country at large.

Under the vision of Dr Sweis, MEICO has achieved several milestones across the board. Today, the company operates according to robust policies and procedures – in compliance with IFRS17 and other global industry standards.

Dr Sweis also champions various social initiatives and eco-friendly practices, including supporting organisations that advocate for a healthy lifestyle and building a headquarters that was the first green commercial structure of its kind in Jordan.

Recognising the modest income scale nationwide, he places special emphasis on continuously developing and extending carefully tailored individual insurance programmes that cater to the issues of the general public at a reasonable cost. These include free roadside assistance under the company’s comprehensive motor vehicle policy applicable in Jordan and several neighbouring countries, as well as emergency medical coverage for the insured and their families outside the country.

Internally within the company, he believes that employee-centricity inherently equates to customer-centricity.

Armed with a knowledgeable workforce that possesses in-demand industry qualifications, paired with inspiring leadership, the company – under the guidance of Dr Sweis – has been able to boost productivity, reduce turnover, promote a sense of ownership and ultimately improve the experiences of intermediaries and end-users alike.

In recognition of his many achievements and contributions to the insurance industry, Mr Ali Fareed Lutfi has been named the Young Leader of the Year.

Mr Lutfi currently serves as the head of payer regulation at the Dubai Health Insurance Corporation (DHIC), Dubai Health Authority (DHA) where he regulates medical insurance companies, TPAs and intermediaries in addition to overseeing, licensing and financial regulations on both the payer and healthcare provider market.

He has an established track record of streamlining processes and enhancing operational efficiency in areas such as licensing, ensuring compliance and regulation as a whole for the medical insurance market in Dubai. He utilises his technical, operational, organisational, communication, negotiating and marketing skills to accomplish objectives and resolve issues with his unique blend of being a highly motivated Emirati individual. He combines his talents and accompanying international, regional and national experience to facilitate the medical insurance industry as it interfaces with government regulation.

One of the major projects he is overseeing is the implementation of inpatient DRGs in Dubai, which is a major enhancement to the current healthcare financing model. In addition, he has been instrumental in the new legal setting of all Dubai visa holders being provided health insurance by their employers.

During the pandemic, Mr Lutfi was actively involved in the COVID-19 control and command centre as well as the DHA task force, proactive in assisting not only the insurance market during these challenging times but also the community at large. One of the biggest accomplishments during the pandemic has been the study, calculation and implementation of unified rates for all COVID-19 patients, while maintaining a fair balance between all stakeholders.

Mr Lutfi co-founded the Dubai-based Emerging Young Insurance Professionals which enables its members and the overall insurance community to engage, innovate and network with one another. He is on the advisory board of the Insurance Monitor, an independent insurance R&D centre.

From regularly speaking at conferences, seminars to interviews published in industry magazines and newspapers, Mr Lutfi encourages and motivates millennials to explore a career in the field of insurance. He continually works at guiding, mentoring and supporting new local talent to encourage them in the insurance industry.