Malaysia: Life insurers conduct study on agents' turnover – Asia Insurance Review

The Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (LIAM) and its 16 member companies are working together to strengthen the professionalism of its agency force and upskill them through continuous training and professional programmes to accelerate growth in 2022.

In line with its efforts to raise the standard of its agency workforce, the industry is conducting a “Study on Turnover of Agents” targeting 5,000 respondents to establish the reasons for agents leaving the profession, the relationship between product knowledge and the retention of agents and to establish whether demographics, working experience, support at work and training and development have influence on retention of agents. The study began on 24 January.

LIAM President, Ms Loh Guat Lan, said, “The “Study on Turnover of Agents” is aimed to reach out to these agents who have left the business to enable us to better understand and validate the reasons behind their departure. The findings of the study, will help the industry formulate further best practices and focus on key areas where LIAM and other stakeholders in the industry can assist in improving the recruitment and retention of quality and productive agents.

“In the pandemic era, we need to be proactive and improve ourselves in servicing policyholders. Various strategies have been implemented in adapting to the change and challenges brought about by the pandemic. As the broader economy recovers and responds to the pandemic, we see many new opportunities and potential in the Malaysian insurance market. This is where insurance agents can fill the gap and address the needs of the public.”

She added, “As a highly regulated industry, insurers are to ensure that they only hire qualified individuals who will play an important role in strengthening the protection of consumer interests as well as to foster an industry that practices accountability, integrity and efficiency. In advocating professionalism, our agents and intermediaries undergo rigorous training and examinations to equip them with the knowledge, skills and competency to serve their policyholders.

Recruitment

Ms Loh says that the industry is also proactively looking at how to recruit more full-time agents. It is developing best practices for agency development, reviewing current Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programmes to identify gaps and to set new benchmarks, as well as developing competent agents through certification/ accreditation programmes.

Adding that LIAM is very encouraged by the positive development in the number of agents recruited by the life insurance industry during the pandemic, she said “As of 31 December 2021, the number of agents had increased to 88,068 agents from 82,042 agents in 2020. As a stable and dynamic industry, a profession in the insurance industry is indeed attractive, rewarding and provides an abundance of opportunities that attracts people from all walks of life.”

LIAM CEO, Mr Mark O’Dell said, “The industry works very closely with the regulator, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and other stakeholders including the Malaysian Insurance Institute (MII), Malaysian Financial Planning Council (MFPC) and National Association of Malaysian Life Insurance and Family Takaful Advisors (NAMLIFA) to review the programmes for the development and up-skilling of agents through new programmes and programmes which are in demand by the industry. This would further enhance the productivity of the industry.”

He said that the study consists of an online survey of 5,000 respondents, 250 telephone interviews and some focus group sessions. The survey runs for several weeks from 24 January to 15 February.