Swiss insurance giant Zurich Insurance Group entered Malaysia in 2011, later establishing its regional hub here in 2014. It is incidentally the only global player in Malaysia that holds all four business licenses (life insurance, general insurance, family takaful and general takaful).

In a recent interview, the company said that the high competency levels among Malaysians led it to establish its IT and actuarial service centres here as well. “Moreover, Zurich is very much a values-driven organisation and we found that Zurich values and Malaysian values are very much in alignment, with a deep appreciation of diversity, inclusivity, focus on community and on making a positive impact on society as a whole.”

Zurich also pointed out that the insurance and takaful industry in Malaysia is in many ways quite sophisticated, especially in terms in terms of regulations and consumer demand. “This forces companies to always innovate and at Zurich we have stepped up our efforts in response to customer demand,” it said adding that it has introduced the MyZurichLife ecosystem, a country-wide initiative for its Malaysian customers.

The company also noted that Malaysia also has one of the most advanced Islamic finance frameworks, including takaful. “This is achieved by having in place a sound legal, regulatory and Shariah framework that promotes the rapid growth of the takaful industry.”

“With this well-structured environment in place, the two Zurich takaful entities in Malaysia have jointly become a centre of excellence for the Zurich Group, supporting the development of takaful and sharing of best practices across other markets in Asia Pacific (e.g. Indonesia), as well as elsewhere in the world, where takaful know-how and expertise are required,” the company explained.

The company also commended the government on the recently launched Digital Economy Blueprint. “This 10-year road map to transform Malaysia into a digitally driven, high-income nation will have an indirect spill over effect on many industries, including insurance and takaful. We expect the industry to adopt the latest technologies in data analytics and machine learning algorithms, to be more agile and offer tailor-made solutions that improve the customer experience.”