Zurich International Life won an unprecedented nine awards at the international life industry’s flagship event, the International Adviser Awards, held in London.
This was four more than the Athol Street based company won last year, and more than any other product provider working internationally.
The International Adviser Awards are decided by a panel of industry experts who look at criteria including product design, distribution and servicing excellence based on data provided to them by third party companies and life industry analysts.
Some of the awards, including the two Readers’ Choice Awards that Zurich won, are voted for by the company’s own customers – the IFAs and distributors who sell Zurich products within the Middle East and Asia.
The awards followed the International Adviser Fund Links Forum 2014, an annual conference which brings together the biggest companies in the international life industry with some of the world’s leading asset managers and fund providers including BlackRock, JP Morgan, Investec, Invesco, M&G, Schroders, Matthews Asia and BNP Paribas.
At this event, Zurich International Life’s chief executive officer, Clive Baker, took part in a live panel debate alongside the CEOs of six other international life companies looking at the industry’s key trends and future challenges.
He spoke passionately about the impending regulatory changes in Hong Kong and of Zurich’s commitment to customers in that market, about the importance of protection products within a company’s product offering rather than having a sole focus on savings products through bank distribution, and about how asset managers should be working more closely with life companies to provide funds aimed at long-term growth aligned to the long-term investment objectives of our products rather than the three to five-year term so often seen.
Clive said: ‘I am overwhelmed by our success and would like to say ‘‘thank you’’ to each and every one of my team who have worked so hard together to help us serve our customers so well – they should all be very proud.
‘These awards are testament to Zurich’s unwavering focus on serving the current and future needs of our customers in Asia and the Middle East, and our foresight in developing products that meet those needs.
‘Similarly, I am delighted that our distributors in both Hong Kong and the Middle East have voted Zurich as Best International Life Company reflecting the strength of our relationships and our joint commitment to our customers.’
Zurich International Life Limited is incorporated in the Isle of Man and operates through regional branch offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Taiwan and Argentina. It was established in the Isle of Man in 1982, and employs 220 staff from its office on Athol Street, Douglas.
The awards Zurich won are:
Middle East
Best overall product range
Best online proposition
Best New Product – Easy Saver
Best Protection Product – ITA
Readers’ Choice Award, Best International Life Company in the Middle East region
Asia
Best overall product range
Best Protection Product – ITA
Best regular premium Investment Product – Vista
Readers’ Choice Award, Best International Life Company in Hong Kong