The industry silence on sharp practices is beginning to wane, and adaptation to business practices that support market share increase with corresponding premium increase, is beginning to gain traction.
This has led to renewed calls on insurance professionals to look in the direction of the abandoned road map that leads to overall insurance growth.
The board chairman Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc, Dr. Akin Ogunbiyi, pointed to this road map at the 2020 National Conference of the National Association of Insurance and Pension Correspondents (NAIPCO), where he was the chief launcher of the NAIPCO website, appealing to all tiers of government: local, state and federal to patronise insurance market with vigour for pecuniary interest, while the industry on the other hand should by firm action deflate sharp practices.
Ogunbiyi said that was the way to achieve adequate return on investment and capital adequacy ratio, “and also accumulate retain earnings and shareholders funds on a sustainable basis through good corporate governance and adaptive leaders that recognise and respond to insurance needs.”
He said this period is a challenging one for insurance industry and the investment income that served as the good balm is in the negative as debts and equity instruments as well as money markets and equity funds are returning low yield because of the prevailing unfavourable investment climate and low profit mark for capital preservation yield.
Ogunbiyi said the market must come to terms with the fact that huge discounts to companies that are richer than the insurers could no longer be sustained, noting that the fleet discounts were ridiculous and unsustainable.
The theme of this year’s confab was “Promoting Bankable Investments Portfolio for Insurance and Pension Sectors,” it was attended by stakeholders in the pension and insurance industry and industry observers.
