Sara Lamsam is the driving force behind the success of Muang Thai Life Assurance (MTL), one of Thailand's most prominent life insurance companies.
- Best CEO in Innovation and Management Excellence
- Sara Lamsam, President and Chief Executive Officer of Muang Thai Life Assurance Plc
Backed by 30 years of experience within the Lamsam family in the life insurance industry, the 54-year-old president and chief executive officer has played an integral role in outlining and implementing business strategies that have driven MTL's steady growth for decades.
A key strategy that led to the company's outstanding performance and its ability to win accolades has been MTL's provision of a range of innovative products and services.
MTL this year announced its goal of becoming a life insurer that stands out in terms of its product offerings via online platforms to reach various groups of customers and maintain a leadership position in the country's life insurance industry.
Consumers can now access MTL's products via both traditional and new distribution channels. The company established the Fuchsia innovation centre under a "think out of the box" concept to strengthen innovations in relation to its products, services, and management processes. The centre is an example of MTL's collaborations in the form of business alliances to develop products that serve different groups of customers, particularly those requiring a unique product.
MTL Click, an application developed to allow customers to access all of the company's services in one location, received the Business+ Product Innovation Award 2023 in May after over 800,000 individuals downloaded the app.
Two months earlier, the insurer launched MTL Fit, an app to help make people's healthcare hassle-free. It offers dynamic pricing under an "MTL Fit Reward" feature for discounts of up to 15% on insurance premiums.
Last month, the company joined hands with Line BK to offer an innovative life insurance product for lower-income consumers and freelancers. These groups can easily access information and pay a small amount for life insurance protection via Line Pay.
Mr Sara said offering products and services that are easy to understand and equipped with innovation for the convenience and accessibility of customers enables MTL to meet the needs of every kind of lifestyle at different stages of life. That, in turn, enables MTL to be connected with more targeted customers.
Such a strategy helps the company expand its customer base while core products such as health coverage, critical illness coverage, unit linked-insurance, and pension insurance continue to expand well, supporting MTL's ability to grow continuously and stand out in the life insurance sector.
Mr Sara, early this year, announced his vision for MTL to become the country's most trusted life and health partner and become a market leader as the "health provider" of innovation in terms of health insurance coverage and wealth management under the concept of "MTL Next to You".
He emphasised the concept of life insurance products that meet the needs of consumers through an "outside in" perspective. Using this strategy, the company offers services with new innovations through both digital and non-digital systems to meet the needs of customers who prefer either self-service or service with a human touch.
"The life insurance business today has changed the way of thinking as companies cannot only rely on an 'inside out' dimension in offering insurance coverage," said Mr Sara.
"Nowadays, the world of life insurance is about personalised or 'outside in' to serve customers. Finding products that meet customer needs is very important, so big data and innovation is a key success tool for today."
Using information systems to develop insurance plans via online and offline channels is a strategy that keeps customers satisfied, making MTL successful and its operating results grow even in times of crisis, he said.
The life insurance industry overall continued to grow in this year's first half, with total insurance premiums reaching 300 billion baht, up 3.78% compared to the corresponding period last year. For the entire year, premiums are projected to grow 0-2% year-on-year to 613 billion to 624 billion baht.
In the first five months, MTL recorded higher growth than the overall market, with insurance premiums surging 14.4% year-on-year to 29.9 billion baht. Of the total, new insurance premiums accounted for 10.5 billion baht, up 13.8% year-on-year, and insurance renewal premiums soared 14.8% to 19.4 billion baht.
In his capacity as president of the Thai Life Assurance Association, Mr Sara believes that positive factors will support the growth of the country's life insurance industry as people become more aware of the importance of life insurance and additional health or critical illness insurance policies. The trend of increasing medical expenses and uncertainty regarding the spread of emerging diseases such as Covid-19 have driven the growth of the insurance industry so far this year.
Life insurance policies, relative to the size of the Thai population, average 38%, while the value of the life insurance industry contributes roughly 3.8% to GDP at present. In some countries, life insurance companies can reach a larger number of people and can contribute up to 15% to GDP.
The life insurance business in Thailand still has plenty of room to grow, as many people are yet to be covered by insurance products.
Moreover, 95% of the funds in the life insurance system are invested in debt instruments, government bonds, and stocks. This suggests that the insurance business is connected to the country's ecosystem.