Middle East Global Advisors, a leading financial intelligence platform, will convene the 14th edition of its annual World Takaful & InsurTech Conference (WTIC) in April in Dubai, UAE.
The event, organised in strategic partnership with the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and supported by the Insurance Authority (IA) and the Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC) will be held on April 1 and 2 at Address Dubai Mall Hotel.
In order to capture the industry transformation and trends across the global insurance landscape, the annual World Takaful Conference has been repositioned as the 14th Annual World Takaful & InsurTech Conference (WTIC 2019) and will spearhead a series of discussions centred around the theme of “Reinforcing Customer Engagement and Operational Agility through Digital Transformation”.
Ehsan Abbas, chairman of Middle East Global Advisors, said: “While the Takaful industry grew by a CAGR of 6 per cent by 2017, it remains relatively untapped at $46 billion, accounting for just 2 per cent of total Islamic finance assets, signifying that there lie key opportunities for the sector to grow.
“As the insurance ecosystem is witnessing transformation and innovation at an incredible pace, leveraging technology to achieve cost efficiency and productivity is of utmost importance. It is with great pleasure that we announce the 14th edition of the World Takaful & InsurTech Conference that offers an unmatched opportunity for dialogue and interaction among leading minds from Takaful, Conventional Insurance and InsurTech, and aims to serve as a catalyst for the transformation of the entire insurance ecosystem.”
Ebrahim Obaid Al Zaabi, director general of the Insurance Authority (IA), stated that the early foresight of the global market developments, the rapid technological changes and modern technological systems will greatly help overcome the challenges and turn them into opportunities for evolving the world Takaful industry and leading it towards a better future. He stressed that the Insurance Authority pays special attention to the Takaful insurance sector by enhancing its vital role in insurance of persons, property and liabilities hand in hand with the traditional insurance sector.
While the Takaful industry accounts for just 2 per cent of total Islamic finance assets, making it the smallest contributor to the Islamic finance industry, there is a strong trend of consolidation within the industry. Saudi Arabia takes the top spot in terms of total takaful assets. Other countries that dominate the global market include Iran & Bangladesh (Islamic Finance Development Report 2018).
Takaful has also seen a growing presence in Western countries, specifically with the London market working on developing an ideal framework for Islamic insurance. WTIC 2019 will also see an exclusive address by Dave Matcham, chief executive, International Underwriting Association of London (IUA), on embracing innovation and technology in the Insurance industry to achieve industry-wide transformation.
Matcham, said: “Following the launch of a set of guiding principles for the trading of commercial (re) Takaful business, there is a growing expectation and optimism that more opportunities will present themselves to London market carriers. By leveraging the unique infrastructure for commercial business within the market, both Lloyd’s syndicates and companies operating in the London market are evaluating these opportunities through existing or new trading entities in discussion with key Islamic clients and stakeholders.”
During his exclusive one-on-one interview at WTIC, Zia Zaman, one of the most notable figures in insurance innovations will discuss MetLife Asia’s experimental product - Vitana, the world’s first automated insurance solution that offers pregnant women claimless financial protection using blockchain technology, in case of gestational diabetes, a condition affecting up to one in five expectant mothers in Singapore.
Vitana also offers customers improved data security as it performs parametric underwriting on the customer’s mobile device, meaning the insurance company does not require access to the underlying medical data to confirm insurability.
The 14th edition of the conference will see unique innovations in the form of an Innovative Insurer Showcase Session whereby attendees can explore transformative solutions by way of insurance products, services and technologies, an Exclusive Takaful Workshop to explore the nuances and foundation of traditional Takaful conducted by the region’s renowned Shari’ah scholars, Regulators’ Rendezvous whereby insurance regulators from GCC & Asia will share the best regulatory mandates and practices for the industry to unleash its full potential whilst maintaining compliance and an Insightful Audit Session on IFRS17, among others.
The forum has also proven itself to be an ideal launching pad for financial intelligence reports. Last year’s edition saw the launch of the groundbreaking Milliman Monitor, equipping Takaful leaders in the regulatory, demographical and technological landscape to take stock of the key industry trends and explore factors that are critical to their organization’s success. – TradeArabia News Service
Dubai to host global takaful & insurance tech forum
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