Life insurance and financial services professionals that are responsible for, or involved with, agency management and transformation, strategy, sales, and training throughout the Asia-Pacific Region. Heads of agency, distribution executives, sales managers and agents will all benefit from the content being presented and the networking opportunities available during this event!
Highlights
The life insurance industry is changing at an unprecedented rate, as employees and consumers alike continue to demand more digital friendly business models. Regardless of the insurance or financial products you are selling, having a "digital edge" on competitors can help you attract and retain customers, attract and retain agents/advisors, enhance channel performance, and more. The planned session topics at this event will illustrate the many ways companies and agents are using technology to gain a competitive advantage.
Following the conference, we also invite you to join us at the 4th annual Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards Dinner, recognizing the achievements of individuals who have touched the lives of people in many different ways and the corporate executives, companies, associations and service providers who help agents and advisers on their path to excellence. Your ticket to this dinner is included with the price of your conference registration fee, and will be a great way to end a busy day of networking and learning!
Know Someone Great? Nominate them for the 4th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards! There is no charge or fee to take part in the Awards, and nominations for a colleague as well as self-nominations can be made in any or several of the following categories:
Insurance Agent of the Year
Financial/Bank Adviser of the Year
Rookie Insurance Agent of the Year
Insurance Agency Leader of the Year
Rookie Insurance Agency Leader of the Year Affinity
10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.: PANEL: The Digital Advantage
4:55 p.m.: CLOSING REMARKS
Benjamin Ang
Founding Editor, Asia Advisers Network
Benjamin has over 15 years of financial services industry experience in sales, recruitment, training and communications. As an experienced journalist, he is also a proud advocate of the life insurance industry, and meets regularly with insurance regulators, heads of associations, and regional and global CEOs of (re)insurance companies to gain insights on developments and trends of the industry. He is passionate about trumpeting the underappreciated work that professional advisers do for society, and speaks actively on how life insurance advisers can continue to thrive in the years ahead. Benjamin also launched the Asia Trusted Life Agents and Advisers Awards, which was recognized and awarded by the Marketing Institute of Singapore (the national body of sales and marketing), as “Advocate of Life Insurance in Asia”. Currently, Benjamin is the Founding Editor of Asia Advisers Network (AAN), an online platform launched by Asia Insurance Review to meet the information needs of advisers and agency leaders, with the aim of helping to raise the bar and image of the industry. He holds the professional qualifications of Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) and Associate Estate Planning Practitioner (AEPP).
9:20 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.: OPENING KEYNOTE: How to Surf the Digital Transformation Wave with Ease
Andrew Chow
Digital Marketing Strategist
Andrew
Chow is Digital Market Strategist based in Singapore and the best-selling
author of a highly popular series of books: Social Media 247, Public Relations
247, and Personal Branding 247. Within 5 years, Andrew has spoken in over 15
countries and addressed more than 50,000 people on Digital Marketing, Personal
Branding, Enneagram, and Public Relations. His clients include AIA, AXA,
Prudential, Great Eastern Life and other Multi-national corporations. Since
2005, Andrew has completed more than 300 interviews and features about himself
or his business in more than 40 local and regional media.
Senior Vice President - Smart Data, FWD Life Insurance Public Company Limited
Athiratt is currently running the Smart Data team at FWD Life Insurance Thailand. He has extensive experience in setting-up modern big data platforms, with an expertise that lies within managing data science and engineering teams to transform business using AI / Machine-learning. Prior to his current role he spent 7 years in Singapore as the Director of Data Science for Allianz SE Insurance Asia Pacific, working on both the Life and Non-Life Insurance businesses. During this time at Allianz him and his team created a variety of award-winning data-driven innovation solutions. In addition to his insurance experience, Athiratt has also spent time working in digital agencies to improve marketing, sales, service, and fraud issues using innovative data & AI solutions.
10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.: PANEL: The Digital Advantage
Thanathon Karnjanisakorn
Financial Advisor, AIA Thailand
While attending Assumption University (ABAC), majoring in finance and banking, Thanathon worked part-time in AIA Thailand’s department of unit linked products and FA. Following graduation she began working at AIA full time, and has qualified as a member of MDRT every year since then. Thanathon differentiates herself from the “typical insurance agent” by continuously working to develop her knowledge of the industry, as well as putting a strong emphasis on the use of online media. Through her Facebook Fanpage “Namfinance”, she posts financial articles to more than 10,000 followers and also hosts a financial knowledge YouTube channel that has close to 100 episodes. By utilizing these various online media platforms to share what she knows, she hopes to help more people understand the importance of financial planning and motivate them to create their own financial plans.
11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.: PANEL: The Agent of the Future
Clarie Kwa
Director, 360F
Before joining 360F, Ms. Kwa headed the Asian insurance practice in a multinational management consulting firm. Having spent the last decade in the insurance/ advisory industry crossing a wide span of functions from front-line distribution, training to management consulting, she observes hopeful signs of change emerging, such as InsurTech. However, in the advisory business where financials are personal, she believes that technological innovations do not immediately equate competitiveness. Rather, being a certified Reiss Profile® Master, she maintains that an agent’s or a firm’s competitive advantages can only be sustained if they are premised on a deep understanding of human behavior.
10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.: PANEL: The Digital Advantage
Calvin Lee
Financial Services Director, AXA Insurance Pte Ltd.
Calvin joined the Financial Services Industry in 2008. He holds the prestigious professional titles of Chartered Insurance Agency Manager, Chartered Financial Consultant and Certified Financial Planner. Being an engineer by training and a strong believer of embracing digital technology with a human touch, Calvin was awarded LinkedIn Champion 2018 by his company for his proven success in using LinkedIn for recruitment. Calvin was further recognised for his digital work when he was named the Winner for Digital Agency Leader of the Year 2019 by Asia Trusted Life Agents and Advisors Network. This award ranks him the best in Asia for being the digitally-savvy agency leader who is leveraging the power of social media and technology to run his agency.
In his practice, Calvin leads an agency specializing in retirement adequacy planning, legacy planning, business owners planning and employee benefits. Believing in giving back and serving the industry, Calvin was the elected President (2019/20) of Financial Services Managers Association (FSMA) of Singapore. He is currently serving as the Board Of Governors (2022/23) of FSMA.
10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.: PANEL: The Digital Advantage
Tay Kah Lok
Digital Agent of the Year 2018, finexis advisory Pte Ltd
Throughout his 7-year career as an adviser, Kah Lok found
that clients and the people he met asked him similar questions. He figured the
best way to help his clients and the community was to film the answers in a
series of videos so that others could access the knowledge and information they
required 24/7. That led to the creation of MONEYMAP, where he filmed a series
of three-minute educational videos revolving around financial literacy for the
benefit of the general public. As of May 2019, he produced 40 such videos.
Utilising the power of social media, he has shared his videos on various
platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn. Through the
exposure of his content and brand online, and by regularly keeping his clients
updated via channels such as WhatsApp broadcast group, he has instilled greater
confidence and trust in his professionalism. The combination of initiatives
focused on creating value for the community has elevated his business model
from push to a client-attracting pull-model with clear measurable outcomes. He
has since clocked 113 five-star recommendations on his Facebook Page and his
business is now 100% powered by passive referrals and existing clients only.
An award-winning entrepreneur and international master trainer, Joshua is the go-to-guy for development in the areas of personal branding, sales communication and leadership performance. He has provided sales and leadership training to senior executives and professionals at multi-national corporations and small-medium enterprises, including AIA, Prudential, UOB Bank, Loreal, SCENTAL Travel, Denza (China), and Colourworks International (South Africa). Since 2005, Joshua has been the Official Judge and Trainer for several 'Miss Singapore’' pageants, training the contestants in 'Image Presentation', 'Social Etiquette & Mannerism' and 'Body Language In Effective Communication'. A former Winner of NUS Manhunt and former Mr. Singapore, he is a popular figure with the media, appearing on print, online, and on TV.
Product Manager of Comarch Digital Insurance for 4 years, Malgorzata focused on expanding the insurance front-office solution with great user experience and omnichannel customer journey build in. On a daily basis, she cooperates with the R&D team, UX specialists, implementation, consultants, account managers, marketing and analytics companies, which allows her to gain requirements and experiences from many different areas and business perspectives. She is involved in creating a software used by the insurance companies like AXA Luxembourg and UNIQA Poland. Małgorzata has a Master's degree in Economics and Management and has completed Business Analyst postgraduate studies.
11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.: PANEL: The Agent of the Future
Spann Ngamsuriyaroj
Innovation Project Leader, Fuchsia Innovation Centre – Muang Thai Life Assurance (MTL)
Spann Ngamsuriyaroj is currently leading health innovation projects at Fuchsia Innovation Centre – Muang Thai Life Assurance (MTL). She is also the head of customer’s insights and trends. She joined MTL in early 2017 with the task of bringing a more customer centric culture and process into the organization. She is also creating health innovation projects that truly answer consumers’ needs and move with the fast-changing consumers’ trends. Spann is highly passionate with new technologies, especially health and bio tech, and believes that they can be integrated into the innovation initiatives, to help business meet consumers’ needs better.
Spann’s background is mainly around business strategy and marketing. She graduated with bachelor degree in Marketing from BBA Thammasat, and got her MBA degree from Ashridge business school (UK). Prior to joining MTL, Spann worked in several marketing and business strategy related positions including; a corporate business consultant at Advanced info service PLC (AIS), Business development manager at Central department store, and Associate consultant at Vitamins consulting and research.
11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.: PANEL: The Agent of the Future
Kartik Sakthivel, PhD, MS-IT/MS-CS, MBA, PGC-IQ
Vice President & Chief Information Officer and Regional CEO – Asia West , LIMRA and LOMA
As chief information officer for LIMRA and LOMA, Kartik Sakthivel is responsible for developing the information technology strategic direction for the enterprise. In this capacity, he directs and manages computing and information technology policies, programs and schedules for business and enterprise systems, and manages information services to meet LIMRA and LOMA’s corporate goals and objectives.
An industry thought leader, he champions the use of technology to improve the revenue, profitability, and efficiency of the organization. Joining LIMRA and LOMA in 2017, Sakthivel has broad industry experience, most recently as director of technology at Liberty Mutual Insurance.
He holds a doctorate in Computer and Information Sciences with a focus on AI and Information Quality from University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and a Master of Science in Computer Information Systems/Information Technology, as well as a Master of Business Administration from Southern New Hampshire University.
11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.: PANEL: The Agent of the Future
Michael Shin
CEO, RGA Korea & CMO, RGA Asia, RGA Reinsurance Company Korea Branch
Michael Shin is Chief Executive Officer, RGA Korea, and Senior Vice President, RGA Hong Kong, with executive oversight responsibility for all of RGA’s business activities in South Korea and Hong Kong. He is also Chief Marketing Officer for RGA Asia, with responsibility for all marketing activities in RGA’s Asia Pacific region. His insurance industry experience spans nearly three decades. Prior to joining RGA in 2011, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing and Distribution Officer of New York Life Korea (now ACE Life), where his duties included being Head of Agency Distribution, Marketing, Product Design and Corporate Communication. He was also with Samsung Life Insurance South Korea, where he was Corporate Vice President, Channel Strategy and Planning, and Senior Vice President and Chief of Advisors and Financial Planning Center. Earlier, he spent more than 15 years with Prudential Financial Insurance, where he was Managing Director for the Asia market. Michael received a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in economics and international business from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
3:55 p.m. - 4:55 p.m.: CLOSING KEYNOTE: #HUMANfactor - The New X factor to Multiply Your Business
Jensen Siaw
Global Motivational Speaker & CEO, Jensen Siaw International
Jensen is a Master Performance Coach & Global Motivational Speaker. Known as a master motivator in the life insurance industry, he has coached MDRT/COT/TOT qualifiers and leaders of Multi-Million Dollar Agencies. His clientele includes MDRT, AIA, Allianz, Aviva, Prudential, Manulife, HSBC Life, Tokio Marine, Zurich, Great Eastern, Income, bancassurance partners and other financial institutions in the region.
Jensen is also the Chief Motivator & CEO at Jensen Siaw International (JSI). JSI is engaged every year by insurance companies to run recruitment seminars, university recruitment programmes, leads generations platforms and sales breakthrough boot camps. Recognised for his work in Asia’s life insurance industry, Jensen was invited onto the judging panel for the Asia Trusted Life Agents and Advisers Awards, serving alongside the suite of CEOs and CDOs of various insurers in the region.
In 2022, Jensen co-founded LearnAply.com, an online learning and development platform that provides video-on-demand & live courses/events dedicated to helping insurance advisers and agency leaders in Asia run thriving financial advisory practices. He is also the author of "Change Your Inner Cards, Win The Outer Game", a book that has since become the manual for breakthrough boot camps for MDRT aspirants.
Executive Life Planner, Tata AIA Life Insurance Company LTD
In a mere 10 years, Divya has traveled an incredible journey of transformation from ordinary homemaker in a traditional Indian family and mother of two daughters to an internationally acclaimed insurance advisor. As an agent who has gone the extra mile to protect her customer’s financial future, it certainly speaks to her mission and philosophy to be honest and sincere and give her clients the best possible advice, after understanding and analyzing their needs. The satisfaction of her client is of paramount importance and their interest her priority. Divya has had a steady stream of successes starting with graduating from the Commerce University of West Bengal. She is certified by the American College & LUTCF; IIM certified; holds 5 MDRT awards, 2 Court of Table awards & 4 Top of Table honors. She is a LIMRA International Quality Award winner; winner of the Insurance Agent of the Year at the 2nd Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisors Awards for 2017; a Tata AIA’s Real Life Hero finalist; winner of Inspirational Agent of the Year at the 3rd Asia Trusted Life Agents and Advisers Awards 2018 edging out some 400 participants from 14 markets. The list goes on with having served on the Membership Communications Committee (MCC); Zone 4 South Asia as Company Chair for Tata AIA Life for 2016-2017; and conducting a school called “Hello Divya” to train probable MDRTs. Her motto – Success does not lie in results, but in effort; being the best is not as important as doing the best. With over 4800 satisfied client, she must be doing something right.
Nick Wilson is a Learning and Development Director with a proven track record of success in the development of people in global organizations. During his career, he has focused on talent management as a key skill, developing and coaching top organizational leaders and sales people. He has directed projects with AIA, HSBC, British Telecom and Rotork Engineering on leadership and sales development initiatives designed to groom executives and to drive organizational change. Wilson is a Graduate Member of the Institute of Personnel Management (MCIPD) and has earned the Mortgage Advice Qualification (MAQ) from the Chartered Insurance Institute. His other qualifications include Business application of Neuro Linguistic Programming, Advanced Skills and Business tools DISC and Relationship Awareness Theory. He also received the Business Education Council National Award in Great Britain.
Digital
transformations are changing how businesses and customers behave, and now more
than ever it is imperative to have a plan that will help you ride the digital
transformation wave with ease. In addition to keeping informed on emerging
technologies, companies must ensure their people are upgrading their skillsets
to match these new processes and technologies. Andrew will share what
companies should know about the difference between digitization and digital
transformation, how to make learning and development a way of life, and ways in
which companies can redesign the way they manage information.
10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
NETWORKING & COFFEE BREAK - Sponsored by Thai Life Insurance Public Company Limited
Financial Services Director, AXA Insurance Pte Ltd.
Tay Kah Lok
Digital Agent of the Year 2018, finexis advisory Pte Ltd
This panel of industry practitioners will share strategies and answer questions on how they are successfully gaining the digital advantage to grow their business.
Innovation Project Leader, Fuchsia Innovation Centre – Muang Thai Life Assurance (MTL)
Kartik Sakthivel, PhD, MS-IT/MS-CS, MBA, PGC-IQ
Vice President & Chief Information Officer and Regional CEO – Asia West , LIMRA and LOMA
Michael Shin
CEO, RGA Korea & CMO, RGA Asia, RGA Reinsurance Company Korea Branch
As companies continue to put an increasing emphasis on digital initiatives and strategies, the role of the agent has also evolved. Lots has already changed, but what’s next for the agent of the future? How will they prospect and sell? Where will they work? And how will they be managed?
Executive Life Planner, Tata AIA Life Insurance Company LTD
Balancing family life with work life can be challenging to the point of compromising one or the other. Join this session to hear how Divya has made it all happen for her family and company.
Now more than ever, agency managers must compete against newer and trendier industries to attract develop, and retain top sales talent…all while effectively managing their office and growing sales. This session will share ideas on how companies can inspire, connect, and better understand the thought process and management style of today's agency leaders to develop them for future success.
This presentation will focus on the various aspects of digitalization transforming the insurance industry, including a comparison of digitalization maturity in our industry versus those of other financial services. Different digitalization-linked trends like omnichannel and optichannel will also be discussed, reminding us that at the end of the transformation journey there are individual customers who still require individual approaches.
Creating
the right personal brand, at the right time, is of paramount importance for making
an appropriate first impression. The image you project of yourself, your charisma,
and your expert relationship management skills can all play key roles in facilitating
successful connections with prospects, clients, and team members. This session
will examine what type of first impression you give off, how to enhance your
charisma, and how to manage and adjust these skills to further your success in future
business interactions.
LIMRA’s International Quality Award professionally recognizes Agents who consistently perform in producing new business and pride themselves in delivering customer service, building quality, and profitability. To attain this award, agents meet rigorous policy standards for two consecutive years and maintain an impressive persistency rate on these policies. At this time, LIMRA would like to recognize the 2018 Top 10 Companies in the world for Advisor International Quality Award, IQA, Qualifiers.
Global Motivational Speaker & CEO, Jensen Siaw International
The advancement of digital technology and Artificial
Intelligence have brought about rapid and massive changes which have altered the
way we communicate, buy and sell things, make friends, market our business,
connect with our customers, and even the channels through which we form
relationships. This motivational keynote dives into how you can collaborate
effectively with digital technology to grow your business and what the key
elements are in the #HUMANfactor that will allow you to connect deeply and
authentically with your clients for long lasting trusted relationships.
The Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards Dinner recognizes the achievements of individuals who have touched the lives of people in many different ways and the corporate executives, companies, associations and service providers who help agents and advisers on their path to excellence. Your ticket to this dinner is included with the price of your conference registration fee, and will be a great way to end a busy day of networking and learning! For more information visit http://www.asiaadvisersnetwork.com/Awards/2019
Registration
Your conference registration will gain you access to both the educational events taking place during the day, as well as the 4th annual Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards dinner that evening.
Registration Fees:
Early-Bird Rates (Register by 18 June, 2019): US$450 Standard Rates (Register after 18 June, 2019): US$550
All cancellations and refund requests must be received in writing. Cancellations received before 18 June, 2019 will receive a 50% refund. No refunds will be made for cancellations after 18 June 2019, however, a substitution or replacement of delegates will be allowed. If for any reason a meeting is cancelled, the Conference Organizers will refund the total registration fee. However, the Conference Organizers will not be responsible for any travel, hotel accommodations or other costs incurred. Cancellation requests should be submitted to loga@asiainsurancereview.com.
If you receive any unsolicited or suspicious email or phone call about a hotel booking in conjunction with this meeting, our advice is not to click on it, but delete the email immediately. In the case of a phone call, never give out your credit card information. Our designated conference hotels will never call you unless you contact them first.
The five-star Centara Grand & Bangkok Convention Centre at CentralWorld captures the essence of modern Bangkok, combining luxurious living with exciting leisure and entertainment opportunities. Located within Bangkok’s premier shopping district, the hotel is fully integrated with the convention centre and offers direct access via a covered skywalk to the BTS Skytrain.
A limited number of Deluxe Rooms are available at the discounted group rate of THB4900nett (single)/THB5300nett (double), inclusive of breakfast and in-room internet access. To make reservations visit https://cgcweventsrsvn.chr.co.th/ami2019/ or contact Supatra Tantisammarak (Gob), Cluster Senior Sales Manager, at supatrata@chr.co.th
Become a Sponsor or Exhibitor
Conferences like these are made possible by the generosity of our sponsors and exhibitors. Sponsorship of the 2019 Agency Innovation Conference will help increase name recognition, build product and service awareness, and provide valuable networking opportunities to several hundred key decision-makers in the financial services and insurance industry across Asia. All sponsorships (excluding program advertisements) include the following benefits:
Your company name/logo displayed in the registration brochure, onsite program, event website, onsite signage, and sponsor recognition slides.
A link to your company website from the event website.
Recognition of your sponsorship from the general session podium.
One-time use of the delegate list with the contact information (for those that have agreed to share it) sent via email prior to the event date.
Sponsor ribbons for your company’s registered attendees
Inclusion of one company brochure in the welcome packet given to all attendees at registration.
Applications will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis. Please email Megan Schwartz at mschwartz@limra.com for additional information.
