Schaffter, IASL president

Prakash Schaffter, Managing Director Janashakthi Insurance PLC was elected as President of the Insurance Association of Sri Lanka (IASL) along with the new office bearers at the recently held Insurance Association of Sri Lanka Annual General Meeting.

Prakash Schaffter has led Janashakthi Insurance from 2006 to date and during which time the business has burgeoned from a Rs. 4 billion business which today surpasses Rs. 8 billion business. Counting over 25 years in insurance he was a key member of Janashakthi PLC from its inception in 1994.

Assuming duties as President, Schaffter said, "The Insurance industry is a well integrated and solidly regulated industry. There is a lot of cohesion and stability among the players and the industry is well structured to serve the insurance needs of the community. It has a strong balance of multinational and home grown players, all conducting business in line with best practices and implementing prudent risk mitigation strategies."

"The industry along with the Insurance Board of Sri Lanka (IBSL) is at the cusp of new challenges ahead, to implement new regulations which are consistent with international norms. We must ensure the transition is smooth and well thought through and I will continue the good work of my predecessors on this matter".

He added, "our real challenge is to be more dynamic and create greater awareness and knowledge amongst the public, regarding the benefits of life insurance in particular. Our life penetration is at 11% of the population and needs a huge amount of awareness and information generation to move this to regional standards which are much greater than this.

In India, the ratio of life insurance premium to GDP alone is approximately 4%, whereas in developed markets it ranges between 6 to 9% GDP. In Sri Lanka the penetration of both life and general insurance was 1.2 % of GDP in 2011 and life insurance penetration is approximately 0.54% of GDP in 2011."

The new office bearers of the Insurance Association of Sri Lanka are Dirk Pereira ,Vice President, Mohan De Alwis, Secretary and Deepthi Lokuarachchi, Treasurer.