Compass Insurance underwriting agencies setting a precedent in the local market
Angela Mhlanga, Managing Director at Compass Insurance
CIA wins an accolade at the 2010 Financial Intermediaries Association (FIA) Awards
The 03rd of June 2010 marked the annual FIA Awards Ceremony, held at Emperors Palace, which acknowledges those market players who have succeeded over the past year within specific insurance sectors locally. In 2010 the FIA introduced a new category to recognise underwriting managers who underwrite on behalf of insurance companies, in a separate category – a UMA category. The award winner for this year was Commercial and Industrial Acceptances (CIA), specialising in building insurance underwriting – who underwrite on behalf of Compass Insurance.
Angela Mhlanga, Managing Director at Compass Insurance, says “This award is one that we are certainly very excited about as it demonstrates Compass Insurances’ commitment to the industry in benchmarking best-practices in terms of the underwriting capabilities within the financial services sector. As a specialist insurer it is ever more critical that the underwriting process is concrete and that the agencies managing this are highly experienced and qualified, to deliver strong solutions and benefits to our clients. These awards reinforce just this - the need to understand what it takes to manage the process effectively and to deliver on what is expected by the market”.
The awards are determined through FIA members rating over 6 000 contracts of their product providers with regards to the perceptions, views, expectations, awareness levels and opinion around key issues such as product; service and relationship quality as well as overall supporter satisfaction. Previously the UMA category was not included as an award category; however says Arnold van der Linde; Board member at FIA, “The FIA represents intermediaries in all the sectors of the insurance industry. These intermediaries seek the best cover for clients and we havea number of niche underwriting providers in South Africa that fulfill this need very professionally. As a result, many of our members identified the need to recognise the best UMA as it forms a critical element of the insurance sector. The FIA Awards are held in very high regard in South Africa and now for the first time, through this award, it is possible to also rate and recognise UMA’s and their respective insurers. In the past one could not do a comparison and identify a winner for this very important product mechanism and we now know who the leading UMA’s are locally.”
“While we would like to congratulate CIA on this outstanding achievement, it can’t go without mentioning that another of our agencies MUA who underwrite the high net worth individuals were nominated for this award alongside OneCom. This too is a significant achievement and again reiterates Compass Insurance’s strong market position within a highly competitive sector,” continues Mhlanga.
“I truly believe that these awards provide a measurement to understanding and improving business processes and culture. In light of this, I am very proud that our affiliated agencies are in a position to become catalysts for this type of change within the industry and certainly CIA are well deserving of the FIA award this year,” concludes Mhlanga.
