Narcissistic Tendencies Toxic Workplace

Many managers are being promoted into leadership roles when they have no business being there. Leadership is demonstrated through competence, not attitude, confidence, or charisma. It takes ability and skills. That's why the single biggest decision any organization will make is whom they name manager. When you name the wrong person manager, nothing fixes that bad decision. People leave managers, not companies.

1. Managers who look after only themselves - These managers aren't concerned with fulfilling the company mission or aligning team goals to organizational objectives. It's about their individual performance and getting that annual bonus. Managers with this attitude are playing for the name on the back of the jersey and are concerned only about their own accomplishments and how they look to their superiors.

2. Narcissistic tendencies - This manager often belittles a team member's work and might even ridicule staff at meetings. When he needs something from you, he may become threatening. At his most toxic, he will make you doubt yourself and your ultimate value to the company.

3. Treating people like numbers - In top-down power structures, employees are considered to be objects or expenses rather than assets; there is little concern for their happiness or well-being since the motive for hiring them was purely productivity and profit. In these pressure-cookers, there's little evidence of leaders displaying compassion and empathy in seeing employees as valued human beings. As a result, you'll encounter high levels of stress, turnover, absenteeism, and burnout.

4. Too much control - The work environment is overbearing and stifling because managers want control over all decisions. Such managers distrust the team, so tasks rarely get delegated to others. There's hardly room for group discussion or input because the management style is autocratic, which limits creativity and the team's desire to learn new things.

5. Taking the spotlight from the team - The team puts together a wonderful product and the client is happy with the results. And then it happens: The manager takes all the credit. No praise for the team, no celebration of everyone's success, no recognition of team members for their contributions. This type of manager will steal the light and thunder away from the team, which is a total employee-engagement killer.

PolicyStreet RM25 Million Fundraising

Malaysian based insurtech firm PolicyStreet.com, announced the completion of its Series A fundraising round totalling RM25 million over two tranches. The latest round is led by Altara Ventures, Auspac Ventures, Gobi Partners and Mah Sing Group. 

PolicyStreet.com raised an earlier round via PitchIN, KK Fund and Spiral Ventures during the height of the COVID-19 crisis in June last year one, the largest amount raised from an equity crowdfunding platform in Malaysia.

The announcement of today’s Series A round also coincided with PolicyStreet.com securing in-principle approval for a combined Reinsurance and General Insurance license from the Labuan Financial Services Authority, the financial regulator for Labuan International Business and Financial Centre.

It is the second insurtech to be granted the insurance license. The license will allow PolicyStreet.com to underwrite reinsurance and general risks as it looks to expand its strategic partnerships and footprint in the region.

In 2019, it was the only local insurtech that received the Financial Adviser and Islamic Financial Adviser approval from the Central Bank of Malaysia, enabling it to work with 40 insurance and takaful providers in sourcing, aggregating, customizing and advising customers on the best insurance products that meets their needs.

With the new round of funding, PolicyStreet.com aims to expand into new markets in the region, while doubling down on its technological capabilities and marketing efforts to address protection gaps and provide greater variety of insurance products to meet the growing demands of the digital economy.

Today, the insurtech serves not just end-users but also businesses in providing customized Employee Benefit, Building and Group Personal Accident insurance. Its business clientele includes small to large corporates and technology companies.

Insecure Colleagues In Office

There are many colleagues in our office that highly insecure. You can observe it from the way they talk, from how they move, and even from their posture - some of them even say it out loud.

A few people who from the outside look particularly confident — they take care of their appearance, dress elegant, speak and walk confidently — while they have a deep lack of self-esteem. Their insecurity is more subtle and you have to look closer at them and how they behave.

They Are Loud - Not all loud people are insecure. However, something subtly insecure people tend to have in common is they crave attention, so they are often loud. Being loud is not exclusively speaking loudly. It is the continuous attempt to become the center of the attention, in every circumstance. These people’s attention-seeking behaviors often stem from a deep need for validation and for reassurance that they’re worthy. 

They Need to Talk About Themselves All the Time  - Insecure people tends to seek validation and approval. And this leads them to talk a lot about themselves. 

They Put Others Down - Insecure people tends to talk badly about others. Some do this behind their best friend’s back. If they have nine reasons to be grateful to someone, and one reason to criticize them, they focus on the one thing they can judge or attack. Insecure people puts others down, they usually do it because they need to feel and be seen as superior, confident, and powerful. They need to feel better than others is actually a major cause for people who put others down.

They Act as if They Know Everything - Insecure people don’t like to admit they don’t know something. Lao-Tzu teaches us that - "He who knows and knows that he knows is best. He who knows not and pretend that he knows is an illness".  

They Boast About Their Achievements All The Time - There’s quite a difference between sharing your achievements in a humble way and brag. When talking about their wins, confident people are modest and brief, they recognize their obstacles, admit they had to work hard for what they achieved, and give credit to others. Insecure people instead, tend to make it all about themselves. They usually don’t give credit to others, and have to share every single small win with the world.

They Need to Control Others - Some people have a need for control. The need for control drives people to turn to the external world in order to find things they can control. They may be compelled to micromanage and orchestrate the actions and behaviors of others, or maintain rigid rules regarding routine, diet, or cleanliness and order.

It’s not easy to deal with an insecure person, especially when you don’t know their actions stem from a lack of self-confidence. However, what you can do is learn to identify certain behaviors — such as trying to control others and putting them down — learn to never take things personally, and, in certain situations, set clear, healthy boundaries with these people.

Draining The Swamp Of Toxic Micro-Bully

Few believes micromanaging is a form of bullying, unfortunately it undoubtedly has a negative impact on one’s mental health, work performance, and confidence. While operating as an agent in a French multinational insurer - I observed and believed micromanaging is a form of bullying because it’s about seeking control. Employees and agents feel disenfranchised, humiliated, belittled and their mental health deteriorates.

Micromanaging Victims Suffer - Both bullying and micromanaging take a mental toll on the target. Here are some of the ways victims suffer:

• Health issues such as depression, anxiety, sleep problems and fatigue
• Increased stress that affects all areas of their lives
• Deteriorating self-esteem and confidence
• Lack of motivation
• Fear of losing their job, being demoted or retaliated against

Regardless if micromanaging is intentional or not, it’s defeating, disempowering and frustrating. Unfortunately, micromanaging is common in our workplace as a result of poor leadership and it wreaks havoc on everyone involved. We had a senior manager that micromanager which often resort to bullying tactics with the belief that it makes employees and agents more productive. The key reason is - he don’t know how to manage his team effectively. 

Micromanaging Negative Impact - Here are three impacts of micromanaging your employees & agents.

Humiliation, Low Confidence & Demotivating -  Micromanagers focus on mistakes and weaknesses rather than highlighting achievements and efforts. No matter how hard victims work, they will never feel like their work is good enough. This makes victims feel humiliated, destroys their confidence and motivation, and leads them to become disconnected. Micromanagers are abusive because it negatively impacts the mental health of those on the receiving end. Micromanagement resulted in victims being stripped of their duties and indirectly told that they’re not good enough and can’t be trusted. A consequence of micromanaging is that victims believe they’re not competent and their skills aren’t valuable. 

Unhealthy And Toxic Environment - Micromanaging is justified as perfectionism when really it’s a form of manipulation to control others. It creates a codependent relationship where the victim is fearful to do anything without their boss’s approval. Intentional or not, it produces an intimidating environment within the workplace causing victims to become incompetent.”

Micromanagement is a form of dictatorship where you don’t get to question ways and methods, but instead have to comply with everything the senior manager wants without question. Similar to bullying, micromanagement is due to an imbalance of power. Micromanagers believe over-controlling is an effective way to produce a desired result when really it’s a form of intimidation. 

This is undoubtedly a symptom of a toxic workplace.

• Dictates, controls and manipulates others’ time. While he guards his own time, he is notorious for disrespecting others by perpetuating crises, mismanaging meetings and trying to manage others calendars. 
• Controls the process of how work gets done by dismissing others’ knowledge, experiences and ideas. 
• Exercise his power of authority to control others and requires frequent and unnecessary status updates and reports. 
• Bottlenecks processes due to making everyone seek his approval before moving forward
• Unable to delegate; when he does, he hovers or pulls it back at the first sign of trouble

Devalues Employees Skills, Abilities And Expertise - The key to hiring is to hire people you trust and giving them the freedom to utilize their skills and abilities to carry out tasks and make decisions. The worst thing this senior manager had done is waste time peering over the shoulder of others, telling them what to do or waiting for something to go wrong. Not only does this jeopardize growth, but it prevents people from taking risks, asking questions and thinking creatively which decreases innovation and leads to burnout. It’s only a matter of time before even the most talented and driven victims begin looking elsewhere.

Asia Insurance Ceased Signing New Customer

The Office of the Insurance Commission (OIC) has ordered Asia Insurance 1950 to temporarily stop signing up new customers from Sept 23 after a probe suggested the company has insufficient liquidity for claim payments and a lower capital adequacy ratio than the legal requirement. The office also asked the company to ensure it made claims payments to policyholders on time, as well as prohibiting the company from transferring assets.

The previous week, the OIC issued several measures to support insurance companies facing liquidity problems due to the huge increase in claims for Covid insurance. OIC secretary-general said the office found Asia Insurance's financial status is unstable, with more liabilities than assets and a lower capital adequacy ratio than prescribed by law.

The company may not be able to repay its debts in accordance with its obligations to the insured or the public, as it reportedly has insufficient liquidity to pay claims. According to the statement from the OIC, Asia Insurance's late reimbursement of compensation is considered a violation or non-compliance with the Commerce Ministry's rules regarding the payment of compensation or the return of insurance premiums by non-life insurance companies.

The company also has a lot of accrued claims that affect its financial position and operations, said the regulator. In addition to the suspension of insurance sales and transfer of assets, the OIC ordered the company to take measures to fix its financial and operational problems.

Asia Insurance must increase capital and raise its capital adequacy ratio to meet the levels required by law within 30 days from the date of the order, as well as provide a progress report every seven days. The office also asked the company to prepare a summary report compiling all details regarding its insurance policies.

To ensure transparency, Asia Insurance is expected to compile a complete and up-to-date list of existing claims, and accelerate the payment of compensation in accordance with conditions prescribed in the contracts.

According to Asia Insurance's financial statements disclosed to the public as of June 30, the company had a cash reserve of 685 million baht, total income of 491 million and total assets of 4.87 billion. Its direct insurance claims stood at 721 million baht, with accumulated losses of 285 million and total liabilities of 4.4 billion.

The OIC will keep monitoring and inspecting insurance companies and immediately take legal action if wrongdoing or a breach of consumer rights is detected. The public need not panic because the OIC is working to ensure policyholders will receive compensation on time and the industry as a whole is free of systemic risks.

Indonesia Takaful Industry Faces Challenges

The Indonesian takaful industry faces challenges in the short to medium term from a requirement that Sharia business units (SBU) of conventional insurers spin off into standalone entities. Only a handful of SBUs have separated from insurers, even though the deadline for submitting revised spin-off plans to the regulator is 17 October 2021.

Most insurance firms are progressing slowly and struggling to spin off SBUs in the short term due to high capital requirements and operating expenses, while the implications for profitability and financial viability are unclear. In the long run, however, the takaful sector could benefit from rising sector capitalization and as more insurers prioritize takaful.

The regulations are mainly driven by sharia requirements and could affect takaful firms’ operating and credit profiles. Despite the pressures, takaful sector’s performance is expected to remain steady in 2021-2022.

Industry Development - To support the transition, the Indonesian House of Representatives in 2020 approved the 7th ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) protocol, which aims to partner ASEAN general sharia insurers with domestic players under the spin-off programme. Fitch expects the partnerships to not only provide capital inflow from ASEAN insurers to support the spin-offs in the long term, but will also provide the necessary know-how.

The government has also exempted new sharia entities from the 80% limit on foreign ownership, and has allowed certain services to be shared between the new takaful firm and the original insurer for up to three years, subject to the Financial Services Authority’s (OJK) approval. This would help reduce operating expenses of the new takaful firms. However, evidence of capital inflow from ASEAN insurers has so far been limited.

Life insurers with SBUs would not benefit from the AFAS protocol, which applies only to non-life insurers. Some insurers with small SBUs may close their takaful business.

Sharia Business Units - dominate the Indonesian takaful market numerically, with 42 takaful and three retakaful windows at end-July 2021, compared with 13 full-fledged takaful companies and one retakaful company. More than 70% of all takaful operators are required to spin off their SBUs by the 2024 deadline, but only about five have done so since 2014, including PT Asuransi Jasindo Syariah, PT Asuransi Askrida Syariah, PT Asuransi Jiwa Syariah Bumiputera and PT Reasuransi Syariah Indonesia. In 2019, Zurich Insurance Group acquired 80% of PT Asuransi Adira Dinamika Tbk, and the latter shifted its sharia portfolio to PT Zurich General Takaful Indonesia.

Failure to spin-off the SBUs by October 2024 would lead to OJK revoking the business licences of the sharia units. OJK asked insurers to submit spin-off plans for their Islamic insurance units by 17 October 2020, with revisions allowed till 17 October 2021. The spin-off plans will include insurers' decisions on whether to separate their SBUs or transfer existing portfolios to full-fledged sharia insurers and seek to withdraw their SBU licences.

Takaful Growth - The Indonesian takaful sector continues to grow, with contributions reaching 8.7% of domestic insurance gross premiums in 6M21 (6M20: 6.5%), due to the economic recovery, rising government support, accelerating digitalisation and increasing awareness. The sector's long-term growth potential remains high because Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population while the insurance penetration rate was only 1.9% in 2020.

However, for the new takaful companies to thrive and the sector to continue growing, several structural constraints need to be addressed. These include developing an Islamic finance ecosystem that supports takaful operators, attracting adequate capital, strengthening the regulatory framework, providing additional incentives for takaful operators, introducing new products, raising awareness of insurance products and of Islamic finance in particular, and developing human capital.

Trademark Of Bad Leaders

Leadership broken down into its most basic and practical form can be defined as meeting the needs of people and developing them to their fullest potential. When employees don't develop and have their needs met to do their jobs well, they experience low morale, they stop caring, and they stop trying.

To reverse the effects of bad leadership, when the rubber meets the road, these are five of the most common bad leadership behaviors I've encountered as an executive coach over the years.

1. Not recognizing people for doing good work - Leader who receive regular recognition and praise increase their individual productivity, increase engagement, and are more likely to stay with their organization. Additionally, they receive higher loyalty and satisfaction scores from customers and have better safety records and fewer accidents on the job.

2. Disrespecting employees - Polls conducted on what makes someone a bad leader, it was found that an alarming 72 percent of the surveyed population was treated in a rude or disrespectful manner by a boss. Additionally, nearly 70 percent of respondents were criticized in front of their peers, and 83 percent of them felt bad about it. Finally, and perhaps the worst case of all, an eye-popping 42 percent of bad leaders blamed others for their failures, which 84 percent of employees felt is unfair.

3. Failure to communicate effectively - Communication issues are common. Too much of it, not enough of it, wrong messages being sent. Whatever form it comes in, poor communication can affect work morale, disengage your employees, and dissatisfy your customers. Whatever the case, one thing should be crystal clear: Communication, whether interpersonal or organizational, is a necessity for success.

4. Lacking integrity - When questionable decisions for financial gain or personal benefit are made, employees know. And if they know, you've already lost the battle for respect. But if you lead by example and show integrity in your decision-making, it says a lot about you -- the leader. Who you are as a person in relation to others will ultimately determine your level of success.

5. Failure to give ongoing feedback as part of the manager-employee relationship - Far too often, the typical annual performance review and its process don't result in positive feedback. Generally, in this process, managers will bank up views and perspectives until review time, dumping them all at once on the employee, thus leaving them dazed and confused, overwhelmed, and in some cases irritated.

If we want our employees to grow, why are we waiting an entire year to offer them help? Feedback is about asking and receiving useful advice and insights on a continuous journey toward shared goals. It's about building trusting relationships and knowing that help is there.
When we get it right, feedback lifts people up, helps them understand their strengths, and shows them pathways to achieve the next step in their career progression.

More Than 50% Willing To Buy Insurance Online

New research shows that, for the first time, 50% of insurance customers are willing to consider coverage from new-age digital players, as incumbents seek strategic partnerships to remain competitive.

The World InsurTech Report 2021 notes that insurtechs and big tech players are leveraging significant capital inflows to boost technological development and fuel innovation, putting pressure incumbent insurers.

Many consider new age digital players to be offering greater personalization and emphasis on customer experience, in response to which insurers are increasingly looking to partner or acquire insurtechs.

According to the report, between 2018-2020, the 5 biggest tech companies and a large auto manufacturer which offers insurance services added almost 2.5 times the total market capitalization of the 30 largest insurers globally in 20201.

And by the end of 2020, the total market cap of listed insurtechs surpassed $22 billion. The insurance industry is evolving, the keyword for its future is modularity. Insurers must be prepared to tackle a broad range of future scenarios. Modular offers, systems and organizational structures will be indispensable to creating a robust and responsive value change. In the coming years, industry players will be defined by their strength within a hyper-specialized value chain, and insurers will increasingly become orchestrators.

As traditional insurers expand their ecosystems to remain competitive, they must increasingly consider the value achievable through trusted partners, including BigTechs, InsurTechs and non-traditional players like original equipment manufacturer (OEMs).

The numbers clearly suggest that exponential InsurTech growth is here to stay, so delivering superior customer CARE is essential. Future success in the industry will depend on players’ existing capabilities across the value chain, willingness to invest, and desire to own the customer relationship.

Former Prudential Agency Manager Ordered To Pay S$8.5 Million

Former Prudential top group agency manager Peter Tan has been ordered by the High Court to pay the insurer $4.8 million in damages, $1.2 million in interest and $2.5 million in legal costs for the poaching of more than 220 agents to rival Aviva. 

Prudential Assurance Co Singapore is appealing with regard to the quantum of the damages and legal costs, as well as the judgment that Mr Tan's firm PTO Management and Consultancy (PTOMC) did not dishonestly assist him to breach fiduciary duty.

By contrast, Mr Tan is appealing against being liable for the en masse departure of the agency leaders and agents, the quantum of the damages as well as the order to pay legal costs.

Justice Chua Lee Ming has ruled that the poaching was in breach of Mr Tan's contractual obligation to conduct his insurance business with integrity and honesty. However, the judge held that Prudential had proved only 23 leaders and 204 agents, and not the 244 it alleged, had left because of Mr Tan's wrongful solicitation.

The court heard Aviva had dangled a $15.3 million sign-on bonus to get Mr Tan to join and it had a war chest of $100 million to poach the agents.

The 227 were from Prudential's then most successful and biggest agency unit Peter Tan Organisation (PTO). Mr Tan became an agent in 1996 before rising to helm PTO, and received $56.2 million in total remuneration from Prudential between 2006 and 2016.

Prudential's compensation was for the income the insurer could have earned from these 227 between May 2016 - when Mr Tan started talking to the leaders about moving to Aviva's financial advisory subsidiary Aviva Financial Advisers (AFA) - and July 2016 when he served out his termination notice.

The 56-year-old had to abide by a non-solicitation obligation when he was with Prudential, but that was because it was an agency instruction. However, it was absent in the agency agreement or manager agreement that Mr Tan had with Prudential. Hence, he was not subject to any non-solicitation obligation after he quit Prudential.

Prudential's claim against PTOMC was dismissed, as the judge found that Mr Tan did not owe the insurer any fiduciary duty, so this firm that was set up for providing services to AFA could not have assisted him to breach the duty.

Mr Tan quit AFA and the insurance industry in March 2020, and is now doing business consultancy.

Murder & Insurance Fraud Don't Mix

Alex Murdaugh, the man accused of trying to arrange his own death earlier this month so his son would receive a $10 million life insurance payment, turned himself in to authorities. Murdaugh, a prominent South Carolina lawyer, allegedly hired a gunman to kill him.

A warrant was issued for his arrest Wednesday on a charge of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. The alleged shooter, Curtis Edward Smith, was charged with assisted suicide, insurance fraud and several other counts in the September 4 shooting of Murdaugh on a lonely highway in Hampton County.

Murdaugh gave Smith the gun to kill him and he followed Murdaugh to Old Salkehatchie Road, firing one shot at the lawyer as he stood in the road. But that bullet only grazed Murdaugh's head and he was able to call 911 for help. Murdaugh's lawyer said last week his skull was fractured by the bullet.

Constructive Communication

Leaders need to be effective and they need to achieve results quickly. Fortunately, these are perceptible, concrete qualities that the right type of person can understand and cultivate in themselves. This article focuses specifically on recognizing the traits effective, results-driven leaders possess. Three traits, in particular, are essential to achieving measurable results quickly and efficiently.

Constructive Communication - Being able to give and receive constructive feedback is a trait that all of the most influential leaders must possess. The key to this trait is understanding how to time constructive feedback with your team members so that it feels like a positive experience for them.

The leaders who get results are the ones who can recognize this failure in their company’s management structure and understand how to take steps to remedy the problem. Being proactive about engaging employees in ongoing conversations about performance goes a long way toward boosting engagement and productivity. And, improving these metrics can lead to better, faster results in the workplace.

Leaders must be able to take constructive criticism about their performance as well, both from superiors and subordinates. The best, most effective leaders can accept suggestions and feedback about how they can better serve their team. When employees feel comfortable with expressing their thoughts, positive changes can be made faster and more efficiently.

Concrete Thinking - Another essential trait for good leadership is the ability to think about the future in quantifiable, concrete terms. In my experience, it can be difficult for many people to truly create and implement a long-term plan because they might be wired to focus on the present rather than the future. I believe this trait immediately sets true leaders apart from the pack because it is not something just anyone can do.

Getting great results fast means that you need to be the type of visionary thinker who can see a better future and then make attainable, tangible goals for your team to get everyone there. Depending on your industry, you may not be the person who has the final say in the direction the company goes, and that’s OK. However, as a team leader, you will still influence how and when your team achieves the results your company is looking for.

Emotional Intelligence - Stress, pressure and the unexpected are a part of any job. Not everyone is equipped to handle these emotionally difficult situations well, much less with grace, efficiency and an eye toward the future. Effective leaders also possess the trait of emotional intelligence.

This doesn’t mean you are immune to the negative effects of stress, pressure or difficult situations. Rather, this means you can control your natural impulses to shut down, lash out or panic. Instead, you can observe these emotions and then actively choose to pause and think rationally about the best way to navigate the situation to get the results for which you are looking.

This trait also encompasses the ability to empathize with team members who may not be as well-equipped to handle stress and difficulty. Each member of the team needs to function at full capacity to achieve good results, so it falls to the leader to help others regulate their own emotional states as needed.

An encouraging word, a specific plan of action or a well-timed suggestion can help your team break out of the natural panic response and lock back into a productive and goal-oriented mode of thinking.

Bringing It All Together - Leadership is a constantly evolving position, and it is not an easy thing to take on. Leaders who can get results are even more rare and valuable in the workplace. While it’s true that there are many traits a leader needs to be effective, these are three important markers of a successful leader who consistently gets results.

Insurer Unable To Make Head Or Tail Cow Case

A dairy farmer from Padra, who owns one buffalo and three cows, dragged an insurance company to court as the latter denied her claim for a dead cow. The farmer Dipika Patel’s cow died on July 12 last year due to natural causes.

When Patel filed a claim of Rs 50,000 with United Insurance Company Pvt Ltd, the company, in a bizarre reply, told Patel that as per their record the cow’s tail’s colour is white while in the photo of the carcass it looks black. Patel filed a complaint against the insurer at Vadodara District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum to get the claim amount of Rs 50,000.

During the court proceedings, the insurance company’s lawyer argued that the claim was turned down as per the terms and conditions of the policy because the dead cow did not match with the insured cow.

In response to the insurance company’s arguments, Patel’s lawyer submitted that the postmortem report also mentions that it is the same cow and not a different one. It was also argued that for identifying an animal its colour, shape of its horn among other characteristics are considered, but its real identification can be done by its tag.

The court upheld the argument that the cow’s real identity is its tag. Patel’s insured cow’s tag number was 1626 and the dead cow’s tag number is also the same. The court also closely observed the photo of the carcass and noted that the tail is little bent and due to bad light in the photograph it may look black.

“Insurance companies are statutory bodies and its responsibility is to not reject insured person’s claims by citing irrelevant technical issues. Thus, by rejecting the claim, the insurance company has been deficient in its services,” the court stated.

It asked the insurance company to pay Rs 50,000 to Patel along with 9% interest and pay a compensation of Rs 10,000 for mental harassment and litigation.

Rey Assurance Health Insurance - Indonesia

Indonesian insurtech - Rey Assurance - is taking a new approach on Health Insurance. A  member is eligible to access a platform of health services, including AI-based self-assessment tools, 24/7 telemedicine consultations for no added fee and pharmacy deliveries. The startup is launching out of stealth today, having already raised $1 million in pre-seed funding from the Trans-Pacific Technology Fund (TPTF).

Rey Assurance focus on addressing the low penetration of life and health insurance in Indonesia. The root causes and pain points are systemic in Indonesia here, including  low awareness, expensive distribution channels like agents and telemarketing, high premiums and complicated policies. Indonesian feels like the product is really complex, the process is difficult and they don’t get the best value for the money.

Plans start from about $4 USD per month and are available for individual or groups, like families and small businesses. Rey’s wellness ecosystem was created to give customers more value for their money and help differentiate it from other companies in Indonesia's growing insurtech industry. Some other startups that have recently raised funding include Lifepal, PasarPolis and Qoala.

Approximately 80% or 90% of health insurance are sold using traditional distribution channel (mainly agency). Rey Assurance aims to optimize digital distribution, reducing the price and use the rest for the wellness features.

Instead of doing the underwriting themselves, Rey works with insurance partners to design proprietary policies. The goal is to have an onboarding process that is completely online and only takes about five minutes, and a mostly cashless claim and reimbursement system through Rey’s payment cards. If its payment card can’t be used at a healthcare provider, claims can be submitted by uploading receipt photos to the app. Traditional insurance providers, takes up to 14 working days to reimburse a claim.

Rey’s wellness ecosystem currently covers primary care services, including chats and video calls with medical providers. In the future, it plans to add specialists to the platforms.

Customers can also link their health wearables for incentives. For example, if they hit certain step or activity goals, they get rewards like discounts or shopping vouchers. Rey’s long-term plan is to link wearables more deeply to its insurance policies, using data to personalize policies and premiums.

Covid Disrupt India Insurance Capitalization

Promoters of private insurers are finding it increasingly tough to generate adequate income from their core businesses following the coronavirus outbreak last year. As such, their life insurance arms are not able to generate enough capital infusion, which is crucial to such a business.

The country’s life insurance industry, with assets worth more than ₹51 lakh crore, has entered into its first era of consolidation about 22 years after its liberalization. The problem is more acute for life insurers driven by manufacturing companies and led by non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).

The weighted average market share of India’s top 10 private life insurers has increased from 84% in 2017 to 87% in 2021, indicating consolidation in the industry. This also highlights how mid-size and smaller players are unable to grow while big players are growing bigger.

Twenty-four life insurers in India collected new business premium of ₹34,388 crore between April and August this year, up from ₹27,946 crore in the year earlier. During the pandemic, one clear image emerging is the increase of the overall market share of the top 10 private players. It now stands at 87%. Also, customers’ preference for simpler and value-packed products from larger brands is observed.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) is now regularly intimated about the financial weakness of the promoters of insurers and their inability to sustain following the coronavirus outbreak. As a result, the regulator is giving licenses and approving products of only cash-rich promoter-driven life insurers.

Over the last 20 years, many players entered the life industry, expecting to make money, without thinking much about the ability to infuse continuous capital or adapt to the evolving market and advanced systems. Companies in the manufacturing sector are in deep stress because of covid-19 and cannot bring in capital. If the promoters do not see a return on investment even after 10-15 years, they are likely to exit. 

New-generation entrepreneurs have the cash and the latest internet technology and do not have legacy issues. As such, their entry is good for the industry. Unfortunately, India does not have too many deep-pocketed business houses. Hence, many players will exit. The problem is more with life insurers. General insurers start making money in three to four years as they have easier solvency requirements and do not need so much capital infusion. Only 10 out of 24 life insurers may remain after 10-15 years.

The recent acquisition of Exide Life Insurance Co. Ltd by HDFC Life Insurance Co. Ltd last month is just the beginning of the consolidation caused by the fundamental shift brought about by the pandemic.

InsureTech Sunday New Funding

Sunday - an insurtech startup based in Bangkok, announced it has raised a $45 million Series B. Investors include Tencent, SCB 10X, Vertex Growth, Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India, Granite Oak, Quona Capital, Aflac Ventures and Z Venture Capital. The round was oversubscribed, and that it doubled its revenue growth in 2020.

Founded in 2017, Sunday describes itself as a “full-stack” insurtech, which means it handles everything from underwriting to distribution of its policies. Its products currently include motor and travel insurance policies that can be purchased online, and Sunday Health for Business, a healthcare coverage program for employers. Sunday also offers subscription-based smartphone plans through partners.

The company uses AI and machine-learning-based technology to underwrite its motor insurance and employee health benefits products, and says its data models also allow it to automate pricing and scale its underwriting process for complex risks. Sunday says it currently serves 1.6 million customers.

The new funding will be used to expand in Indonesia and develop new distribution channels, including insurance agents and SMEs.

Insurance penetration is still relatively low in many Southeast Asian markets, including Indonesia, but the industry is gaining traction thanks to increasing consumer awareness. The COVID-19 pandemic also drove interest in financial planning, including investment and insurance, especially health coverage.

Other insurtech startups in Indonesia that have recently raised funding include Lifepal, PasarPolis, Qoala and Fuse. 

AIA Indonesia & GoPay Insurance Offer

AIA Indonesia and GoPay offer insurance products for gamers through the GoSure feature as a solution to increase insurance market penetration and access to insurance products. 

GoPay through GoSure continues to develop micro insurance products needed to protect users in conducting daily activities, including gamers who are vulnerable to the health risks. Micro insurance products offer affordable premiums, a simple claim process and everything can be done through the Gojek app. Payment can be made via GoPay in an easy and safe way.

Gamers Protection is available to members of the public aged 18 to 45. The highly affordable premium starts from Rp 16,000 with one-year protection against the health risks, including heart, eyes and wrists. The product also includes Daily Hospital Cash Benefit. 

Apart from Gamers Protection, AIA, in collaboration with Pasar Polis, has also launched Personal Accident and Cancer Insurance protection products through the GoSure platform. The Personal Accident product provides insurance coverage of up to Rp 100 million with affordable premiums starting from Rp 25,000. Meanwhile, the premium for Cancer Insurance starts from Rp 15,000 for protection with cash coverage up to Rp 30 million. 

All of the AIA insurance products offered in collaboration with GoPay can be obtained with a one-time payment or single premium. 

Wells Fargo Fined US$250 Million

US bank Wells Fargo was hit with a new fine — US$250 million (RM1 billion) for failing to meet requirements in an agreement to pay previously harmed customers. The penalty was set by the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), one of the main US banking sector regulators.

Wells Fargo admitted to opening 3.5 million fake accounts between 2002 and 2017, allowing its employees to earn bonuses related to the sale of new products, and charge unnecessary insurance premiums to more than half a million customers on their car loans.

In 2018, the OCC and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) fined the California bank US$1 billion and ordered it to reimburse the harmed customers the amounts improperly taken, and to strengthen the bank’s risk management program. In addition to the penalty, Wells Fargo will face limits on the bank’s future activities until existing problems in mortgage servicing are adequately addressed.

In February 2020 the bank was hit with a US$3 billion fine over the fake accounts scandal. Wells Fargo has already paid more than US$7 billion in financial penalties related to its business practices.

The OCC banned John Stumpf, the Wells Fargo CEO from 2005 to October 2016, for life from the banking industry.

Great Eastern Expands Assistance For Covid

Great Eastern, is continuing its commitment to protect its customers against the pandemic with the launch of its Covid-19 Medical Plan Coverage Program. The coverage is made available to all Great Eastern Life Assurance (Malaysia) Berhad, Great Eastern General Insurance (Malaysia) Berhad and Great Eastern Takaful Berhad customers, with eligible individual medical plans that have the exclusion on communicable diseases requiring quarantine by law.

The coverage provides reimbursement for expenses resulting from medically necessary hospitalization due to Covid-19 infection in both public and private hospitals. The reimbursement will be made in accordance with the benefits, terms and conditions of the customers’ respective medical plans.

As part of its commitment to putting its customers first and protecting their long-term interest, Great Eastern will provide the Covid-19 coverage with no impact on the benefits of the policyholders’ medical plans. Claims made under the program will not reduce the overall annual limit and overall lifetime limit of the medical plans. There will be no additional premiums or insurance charges to pay, nor will any claims made affect future medical repricing, if any.

Since the onset of Covid-19, Great Eastern has introduced multiple initiatives to support its customers on every journey during these unprecedented times. The RM2 million Financial Assistance Program which was announced in February 2020 was fully utilised. The RM1 million Covid-19 Vaccine Fund was launched in March 2021 to help its customers mitigate the effects of the pandemic. An additional RM500,000 fund offering complimentary daily hospital cash benefits and death benefits was also set up to help the general public who are non-Great Eastern customers.

As part of the Covid-19 Relief Program, the Deferment of Premium Payment initiative allows eligible Great Eastern policyholders to defer their regular premium payment for three months. This is to ensure policyholders continue to have insurance protection despite being impacted by financial difficulties. The program is ongoing and has been extended to Dec 31, 2021 from Dec 31, 2020.

Allianz Australia Fined A$1.5 Million

An Australian court fined local units of Allianz SE for selling travel insurance to ineligible customers and not properly disclosing how it calculated premiums on Expedia websites. Two units of German insurer Allianz were on Monday fined a total of A$1.5 million ($1.12 million) in a civil case brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in September last year.

The units, Allianz Australia and AWP Australia, committed A$10 million in October last year to compensate around 31,500 customers who were sold potentially incorrect travel insurance through Allianz's own website and Expedia.

Allianz Australia issued the travel insurance while AWP handled its sale.

ASIC said the court took into consideration the early admission by the Allianz companies in deciding the penalty. The German company said it self-reported the matter in 2018 and did not contest the penalty sought by the ASIC.

The two units also face separate criminal charges for allegedly making inaccurate statements between 2016 and 2018 when selling both domestic and international travel insurance.

Southeast Insurance Flooded With Covid Claim

Southeast Insurance has pledged to clear up 8,000 accumulated claims for the Covid-19 insurance policies within two weeks as the company has already finished installing the digital process and increased the number of staff handling claims to speed up clearing the claim documents.

The company received around 23,000 claims for Covid-19 insurance and related outbreak policies. Currently, there are around 8,000 accumulated cases waiting for the claim procedure, accounting for compensation worth 860 million baht. The company expects to spend around two weeks to completely clear up these 8,000 accumulated claim cases.

Claims flooded the company after rising infections during the third wave of the Covid-19 outbreak. This overloaded the company's capacity to handle the claims. Normally, its capacity for claim service is around 200 cases per day, while during the pandemic crisis claims peaked at around 1,200 daily.

Last week some policy holders for Covid-19 insurance and related outbreak protection gathered at Southeast Insurance's headquarters on Silom Road to demand payment for their claims. Some clients have waited for compensation for 1-2 months but have yet to be paid.

The capital adequacy ratio of Southeast Insurance is at around 170%. As well, the company has prepared liquidity for existing and the additional compensation payment in total worth around 2.3 billion baht.

Leadership And Management

There are five key distinctions between the leadership and management - plus how you can learn to make your role lean in favor of purpose.

Leaders inspire and teach while managers give direction - Leaders lead with purpose and perception. Prior to mentoring or teaching their mentees, many have a goal already set in their minds to inspire a team or an individual to turn his or her vision into a reality. Leaders tend to think outside the box and ignite the same passion within their mentees through insight, creativity and intuition. Managers focus mostly on calculated results that can typically be measured. They set goals by creating situations and solutions to help reach or exceed their targeted objectives.

Leaders adapt well to change while managers remain creatures of habit - Leaders embrace change and lean toward the power of transformation. Even amid a storm, when everything seems to be going wrong, they see beyond the issues, and instead of staggering in pessimism, they deviate toward possible solutions. They are innovators focusing more on new methods of advancement in areas of decision-making. Managers tend to rely on expertise, knowledge and skillset to fulfill their given tasks, many times, but not always, based on a leader or leader’s vision. They aim to stick with what they know and typically don’t adjust well to change.

Leaders seek to learn more while managers repeat proven skills - Leaders, like entrepreneurs, are constantly looking for ways to add to their world of expertise. They tend to enjoy reading, researching and connecting with like-minded individuals; they constantly aim to grow. They are usually open-minded and seek opportunities that challenge them to expand their level of thinking, which in turn leads to developing more solutions to problems that may arise. Managers, many times, rely on existing knowledge and skills by repeating proven strategies or behaviors that may have worked in the past to help maintain a steady track record within their field of success with clients.

Leaders constantly network while managers build procedures, operations and structure - Leaders are always networking. By doing so, they are creating a support system that can help encourage and influence their vision. They engage often with their team to ensure they are satisfied and tend to over-deliver on their promise. This is done with the intention of building trust and support, which benefits everyone in the long haul, especially when it comes to supporting the leader’s vision. Managers focus on the arrangement and structure of the system, procedures and techniques needed to set and achieve certain goals. They aim to ensure everything is in place to reach the desired outcomes. While they too work with their team or individual clients to ensure goals are reached, they focus more on directing than teaching.

Leaders create diehard fanatics while managers maintain followers - Leaders inspire, teach, encourage, motivate, invigorate and do so much more for an individual or team. They create reason and promote passion and willpower for those who may have lost hope in themselves. Leaders create trust and bonds between their mentees that go beyond expression or definition. Their mentees become raving fanatics willing to go above and beyond the usual scope of supporting their leader in achieving his or her mission. In the long run, the overwhelming support from his or her fanatics helps increase the value and credibility of the leader. On the other hand, managers direct, delegate, enforce and advise either an individual or group that typically represents a brand or organization looking for direction. Followers do as they are told and rarely ask questions. They aim to please the manager in hopes that their advice and expertise will keep the foundation or brand intact. As long as the manager is delivering, they are complying.

Landlord Insurance By MIEA

The Malaysia Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) has launched the MIEA Landlord Insurance policy which will help landlords gain independence against the risk of runaway tenants, rent arrears together with potential damages to their asset or property when faced with bad tenants.

The MIEA landlord insurance coverage will include:

- Reimbursement of loss of rental income due to tenant runaway.

- Legal expenses for letter of demand.

- Pay for amount incurred for losses or damages to contents due to malicious acts of your tenant.

The policy also cover additional benefits such as:

i. Reimbursement of cleaning services charges incurred when the contents of the premises are destroyed or damaged by tenants;

ii. Reimbursement of costs incurred for repairing or replacing doors, locks, access card and Keys following the loss or damage caused by tenants;

iii. Reimbursement of amount incurred for the replacement of glasses (including shower door and windows) due to damage caused by tenants;

v. Reimbursement of amount incurred for services such as plumbing, drainage, air-conditioning and toilet malfunction due to damage caused by tenants; and

v. Reimbursement of losses due to theft or burglary committed by tenants.

Chan further explained that this policy was designed and developed to provide the minimum coverage with a minimal annual premium of RM280 per unit (less than RM24 per month).

MIEA’s insurance partner Howden Insurance Brokers has designed this policy with the mandate from MIEA.

Regulator Probing Ping An Insurance

China's banking and insurance sector regulator is probing Ping An Insurance Group Co of China Ltd's investments in the property market after the firm took a big profit hit from a soured bet. The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) has also ordered the insurer to stop selling alternative investment products, which are typically tied to the property market.

Ping An claimed its real estate exposure was significantly lower than the regulatory cap. The regulatory move comes after Ping An, the country's biggest insurer by assets, in February disclosed a 54 billion yuan ($8.4 billion) exposure to the indebted China Fortune Land Development Co Ltd.

Ping An made adjustments to its earnings figures including booking impairment provisions of 35.9 billion yuan for investments related to China Fortune in the first half of 2021, which contributed to a 15.5% fall in its net profit in the January to June period.

China Fortune, a developer of industrial parks and urban real estate, said it had overdue debt and interest worth 69.2 billion yuan as of June-end, and that default and liquidity stress could impact its operations and financing.

The regulatory probe into Ping An's property portfolio also comes against the backdrop of Beijing sharpening its scrutiny of the country's red-hot real estate market by tackling unbridled borrowing that has fuelled concern about financial risk.

The government has been working to curb unregulated credit flows into the property market. And as new rules choke off shadow lending to developers, the squeeze is increasing the risk of default for some of the country's biggest property players.

The insurance regulator's investigation into Ping An, the only insurer designated as systemically important, aims to uncover and contain risk connected to its property investment portfolio. The insurer's total real estate-related exposure is 185.5 billion yuan, weighing roughly equally on equities, debt and investment properties and accounting for around 4.8% to 4.9% of its 3.8 trillion yuan total investment portfolio.

Property Exposure - The regulator's latest on-site probe into Shenzhen-based Ping An, whose shares are down more than 40% this year, started this month. CBIRC in February ordered the insurer to halt the sale of so-called alternative investment products, leaving dozens in a team set up for the purpose without work.

Ping An's other property investments include 14.1% of the shares in China Jinmao Holdings Group Ltd, 8% of Country Garden Holdings Co Ltd and 6.54% of CIFI Holdings (Group) Co Ltd, showed Refinitiv data based on company filings.

Huarong - Financial Dilemma

Asset Management, the financial conglomerate that was once a poster child for China’s corporate excess, announced that it would get financial assistance from a group of state-backed companies after months of silence about its future. The company also said it had made a $16 billion loss in 2020.

White Knights - Citic Group and China Cinda Asset Management were among the five state-owned firms that will make a strategic investment, without providing more details on how much money would be invested or when the deal would be completed. Huarong had no plans to restructure its debt but left unanswered the question of whether foreign and Chinese bondholders would have to accept significant losses on their investments.

Investors took the news to be a strong indication that the Chinese government was not yet ready to see the failure of a company so closely tied to its financial system. For months, investors waited for any news of Huarong and its financial future after the company delayed its annual results in March and suspended the trading of its shares in April.

Industry predicted a partial bailout, because - totally independent investors would not be subscribing to a capital raise without assurances or a tap on the shoulder. 

Past Practices - For years Beijing looked the other way as companies like Huarong borrowed heavily to expand. The companies grew into huge conglomerates built largely on cheap state bank loans and money borrowed from foreign and domestic investors who believed they could count on the Chinese government to bail them out if push came to shove.

Over the past few years, however, officials have indicated a willingness to let some of these companies fail as they try to rein in the ballooning debt threatening China’s economy.

Even as Beijing cracked down on risky binge borrowing, Huarong tested the limits of China’s commitment to reform. Known as a “bad bank,” Huarong was created in the late 1990s to take the ugliest loans from state-owned banks before they turned to the global markets to raise money as China opened up. It expanded into an empire by lending to high-risk companies, using its access to cheap loans from state-owned banks.

Corruption - Over the years, Huarong became more and more intertwined with China’s financial system, leading some experts to say it was “too big to fail” and putting regulators in a difficult position. Under its former chairman Lai Xiaomin, it engaged in suspicious deals that led to corruption so widespread that it might be impossible to assess the full extent of the losses.

Mr. Lai confessed to using his position to accept $277 million in bribes and was sentenced to death and executed in January for corruption and abuse of power. In its statement on Wednesday night, Huarong blamed the company’s “aggressive operation and disorderly expansion” under Mr. Lai in part for its $16 billion loss.

A fresh injection of cash will give Huarong more time to sell off parts of its vast financial empire, analysts noted, though it was unclear whether the investment would be enough to stem the company’s towering losses.