The Malaysian Insurance Institute (MII) held its Annual general Meeting 2020 at Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur on 22 September 2020, attended by 50 participants including Board of Directors, MII members and staff. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and to prioritise the safety and health of all attendees and organizing committee, the meeting followed strict adherence to the Standard of Procedures set by the Malaysian government.

The MII AGM 2020 kickstarted with an opening statement by MII Chairman, Mr Antony Lee. In his speech, Mr Lee said that “MII is working on enhancing their products and services, venturing into new horizons and we urge members to join us in supporting the growth and modernization of the industry”. He reminded and advised all attendees that “education is a never-ending journey and continue your quest for knowledge and encourage others to join us to scale to greater heights. Any transformation will be wrought with challenges, but I am confident that with good leadership and strong teamwork and the full support of the industry, MII be better-positioned to handle these challenges head on”. Mr Lee ended his speech by bidding farewell to fellow Board member, Dato’ Adrian Loh, who will be retiring from the MII Board after a remarkable 25 years of service as an MII Board of Director.

The meeting continued with an overview of MII’s performance in 2019 and the plans moving forward, presented by Ms Shalini Pavithran, the Chief Executive Officer of MII. In the overview, Ms Pavithran stated that MII launched a number of initiatives in 2019 that has helped broaden MII offerings for the insurance fraternity. Some of these initiatives include the restructuring of membership offerings and benefits, the launch of MII Alumni, introduction of new payment schemes, delivery of 5 customized programmes for insurance companies, collaborations with over 10 prominent organizations such as Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF), Centre of Applied Data Sciences (CADS), Malaysian Institute of Management (MIM), Asian Banking School (ABS), Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers (AICB); to create more value to the insurance industry. In addition to that, MII has also launched a social learning platform where self-study students can engage with peers and lecturers to help in their learning journey.

MII’s financial performance saw a positive trend where MII managed to close the gap in deficit by 52%. This is largely contributed by the decrease in cost as MII adopts digitalization in its processes and opting for virtual platforms for lectures and events; as well as a good take-up in inhouse programmes especially in customised programmes as they are tailored to company’s needs, and an increase in the number of international participants for MII qualifications programmes, trainings and conferences. As MII continues its quest to elevate professional standards, more local and international partnerships will be developed to support innovation and modernization of the insurance
industry.