In August, Italian insurance giant Generali completed the acquisition of AXA’s insurance joint ventures in Malaysia – AXA Affin Life Insurance and AXA Affin General Insurance. Shortly after, Generali named the chief executives for these companies, one of which is Rebecca Tan (pictured above), CEO of AXA Affin Life Insurance.
Fresh into her appointment as CEO, Insurance Business had a chat with Tan, who shared snippets of her career, her expectations of the role, and recent developments and prospects for insurance in Malaysia.
The appointment is a homecoming of sorts, as it marks Tan’s return to Malaysia and the AXA Affin companies.
“Before joining Generali, I was chief marketing officer with AXA Affin General Insurance,” Tan said. “So, I am certainly no stranger to this newly acquired Generali company. Prior to becoming CEO, I was chief distribution and marketing officer for the Generali Life businesses Hong Kong, as well as part of integrated marketing management for all general and life businesses in Hong Kong.”
Tan has more than 25 years’ experience in the financial industry, having held roles in distribution, marketing and customer experience management across retail banking, life insurance and general insurance. She said this experience enabled her to develop skills in business development and strategic management, which are important areas of expertise needed in her current role.
“It is a real honour to be leading the life insurance business for Generali in Malaysia,” she said. “This is a very exciting career opportunity for me, and I look forward to being at the forefront of a significant milestone for Generali as we mark our entry into Malaysia’s life segment.
“Malaysia is an important market for Generali and one where we will be deepening our presence. Being at the helm of an expanding business in a high-potential market will be challenging, but also rewarding, and I believe I will gain a lot out from the experience, both professionally and personally. It is also great to be back in Malaysia and able to bring Generali’s heritage and culture to the local community.”
Outside of work, Tan relaxes by enjoying nature.
“I enjoy outdoor activities such as running and hiking to take my mind away from the work,” Tan said. “These activities allow me to refresh and recharge my mind. A good hike on a beautiful trail has triggered new ideas for me.”
With Generali growing its footprint in Malaysia’s life and general insurance businesses, Tan noted that there will be a lot of opportunities available to the company in the emerging market.
“As Generali is set to invest and grow in Malaysia, ample openings will arise for us to nurture local talents and invest in the development of distribution and business transformation,” Tan said. “Developing our people remains our top priority, so we will ensure opportunities to upskill will be offered to our current employees. At Generali, we believe in cultivating a set of behaviours that determine how we will reach our objective of fulfilling our commitment to be the lifetime partner to our customers and business partners. This is a huge opportunity for Generali in Malaysia as it is how we will do things moving forward and will differentiate us from our competitors.”
According to Tan, many of these opportunities will be in the areas of innovation and modernisation of distribution, business processes and IT capacity.
“Scaling up our digital capabilities will be essential to build a strong foundation in order to increase our operational efficiency at both front and back end,” she said. “With that in mind, IT integration and data migration will be our top priority over the next 18 months. We will be working through that while at the same time ensuring our daily operations are not interrupted, and we are consistently serving our customers and business partners with the best experience throughout the integration process.”
Generali’s focus on innovation is part of a wider industry trend, spurred by the rise of insurtech, especially in emerging markets in Southeast Asia.
“We are already seeing how [insurtech] is elevating the customer experience and, therefore, it is a necessity for insurers to adapt,” Tan said. “The benefit is clear across the customer journey – from providing more digital self-service options such as end-to-end claims service, to policy management, payment options, financial needs analysis and solutions offerings – and that’s just the start. Creating these multiple touchpoints for customers will enhance their experience.
“Insurers are benefiting from the technology transformation, especially in customer-facing functions. The solutions that insurtech may offer include customer insights tools, where integration of operational systems with data analytics will enable insurers to understand their customers’ needs better and give insurers the ability to create bespoke and customised products and services for customers.”
Another major focus for Generali is environmental, social, and governance (ESG), which is increasingly becoming crucial for insurance companies all over the world.
“It is more important now, more than before, for insurers to consider external challenges including economic hurdles (such as inflation), sustainability concerns (climate risk, diversity, and financial inclusion), and rapidly evolving customer preferences,” Tan said. “New medical and health concerns since COVID-19 have triggered many insurers to reinvent their products and services to ensure a more inclusive protection plan for their customers, while climate change may create the avenue for more innovative property protection plans.”
Tan believes that ESG practices will become a key differentiator among insurance industry players.
“By 2024, our aim at Generali is to deliver a positive social and environmental impact to our stakeholders by sustainably transforming our core business and processes and ensuring our commitment to the community is an integral part of our overall strategic positioning,” she said. “Our growth plans in Malaysia also include extending The Human Safety Net, Generali’s global network of people helping people. We look forward to continuing our mission of creating positive social impact and helping the less-privileged groups in our community to unlock their potential.”
