New Life Member
Awarm welcome to Partner Reinsurance Europe SE for joining HKFI as a Life Insurance Member (LIM).
Implementation of “Vaccine Pass” Arrangement
On 23 February, the Financial Secretary announced a raft of measures in his Budget 2022-2023. Albeit that the measures therein are not of direct relevance to our industry, we welcome the Government’s initiatives to issue bonds with longer tenor, facilitate training and groom talents in the space of InsurTech and ESG. These measures will help uplift the competitiveness of Hong Kong as the international financial hub.
On the Greater Bay Area development, we have explicitly expressed our wish for the inclusion of suitable insurance products in the Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect Scheme during the budget consultation. We have repeatedly made such request before and will continue our lobbying drive when the Administration reviews and expands the scope of eligible investment products.
Taxi Insurance
Following the circular issued by the Insurance Authority (IA) on implementing the above arrangement, the HKFI has issued a circular to strongly encourage the industry to adopt similar arrangement within their organizations.
Vaccination is by far the most effective measure to mitigate the risk posed by COVID-19 and its variants and to protect the community. Our General Insurance Council and Life Insurance Council are leading by example with an exceptionally high vaccination rate at 100%. While the work-from-home arrangement will remain the norm for most, if not all, insurers, we are pleased to see that Member Companies are taking action / actively considering to adopt the “Vaccine Pass” arrangement and motivate their staff / intermediaries who are medically fit to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
HKFI continues working closely with the IA and four taxi insurers to assist taxi owners replacing their policies through IA’s central distribution system. As of 23 February 2022, 80% of the taxi policies expiring in February have already found an alternative cover through the distribution system and the figure for March is 40%. For the remaining policies, the owners are probably obtaining quotes from different insurers, considering selling / scrapping their vehicles or arranging insurance cover through their own channels. Either way, we urged affected taxi owners to contact IA should they wish to make use of its central distribution system.
In parallel, we are following up on our proposal to leverage technological solutions to improve the safety of taxis. Two briefings will be conducted in March to explore the viable options available in the market and how they can help improve the ecosystem and achieve a win-win situation for stakeholders.
Enhance Usage of Virtual Onboarding Distribution Channel
The sales of long term insurance policies have been difficult throughout the pandemic. With the number of confirmed cases escalating exponentially, face-to-face engagement with customers has become exceedingly challenging, if not impossible.
To enable our intermediaries to continue serving the insuring public and ensuring their needs are met, we have spoken to various stakeholders including the Life Underwriters Association of Hong Kong (LUAHK) to hear their views on how to make wider use of the approved Virtual Onboarding (VO) Sandbox. After some in-depth discussion among the stakeholders, we have submitted our proposal to the IA for their consideration.
Townhall on IA’s Open API Framework & its Future in Insurance Industry
As the development of the industry’s Open API Framework continues to unfold, we are keen to help our Members grasp how Open API can help enhance productivity, increase chances of cross sale opportunities, improve customer experience, etc. In this connection, on 25 February, we invited officials from the IA to elaborate the blueprint and regulatory landscape of their Open API Framework and technology providers to share live use cases on API cross selling. The interactive session was well received by over 180 participants. We will follow up on Members’ appetite and expectation with a survey and decide the next step forward.
Training on Statutory Secrecy and Legal Professional Privilege
In collaboration with MinterEllison LLP, the Training Unit will launch a series of training sessions on insurance regulatory regime and liability of compliance in 2022. The first session, namely, Statutory Secrecy and Legal Professional Privilege, will be conducted on 24 March 2022. Please stay tuned!
Career Talk at HSU with IA
To attract and nurture talents for our industry, we have been collaborating with the IA on talent development initiatives. The second career talk jointly organized by the IA and HKFI was held virtually on 24 February with the participation of over 100 students from the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong (HSU).
In addition to the presentation on insurance market prospects by IA’s Director of Corporate Services Mr Ryan Chiu, HKFI’s Club 2028 Member Dr Tony Lee together with another industry member also shared with the students their insights and experience on career in insurance. We will continue working hand-in-hand with our regulator to attract new blood to support the sustainable development of our industry.
PLP Thematic Website and Related Publicity
Public education on matters related to insurance is an integral part of our work. While our LIMs are preparing for product approval and launch, we will also time the release of our publicity campaign to help the public understand Protection Linked Plan (PLP). The HKFI will be rolling out a thematic website and educational video clips as part of our public education campaign on PLP. Stay tuned!
Membership News
New Membership
● Life Insurance Member: Partner Reinsurance Europe SE
Change of Authorized Representative
● General Insurance Member: Chubb Insurance Hong Kong Limited – Mr Scott Leslie Simpson
● General Insurance Member: FWD General Insurance Company Limited – Ms Ye Min-Jie
● General Insurance Member: Target Insurance Company Limited – Mr Lau Michael Wai Keung
HKFI Membership
As at 28 Feb 2022, the HKFI has 85 General Insurance Members and 54 Life Insurance Members.
Eric Hui
Selina Lau
Clement Lam
Alfred Cheung