Feb
Contemporary business practices in the 21stcentury revolvesaround business ethicsand corporate social responsibility.Every businessventurestrivesto do „good‟especially within thecommunities which they operate in.Challengingthe established corporate norm and the clichéd meaning of „corporate social responsibility‟, HNB Assurance (HNBA) drove many CSR initiativesduring the course of 2017to portray thetruemeaning of being a socially responsible corporatecitizen.
Sharing his views, Managing Director/CEO of HNBA and its fully owned subsidiary HNB General Insurance Limited, Deepthi Lokuarachchi stated “as a businessfocused onprotectionand wellbeing ofpeople, we challenge ourselvesto drivesocial and environmental change.The Grouppays great emphasis on the communitywhichit operates in, the environment and its people.Great efforts are made across the Groupto ensurethateverypossible measureis taken to minimize the impact on the environmentand uplift the lives ofpeople. The Grouphas categorized its corporate philanthropy into sevenmain focus areas. Our ultimate goalis to protect our community and help them smileand with every step taken, we strike tocreate a meaningfuldifference andenrich the living standards of thepeople”.
Under the award winning Water Stewardship program of the Company 04 schools were provided access to clean drinking water during the year, bringingthe total of such facilities provided to 50 schools with over 6,500 students. Speaking on the CSR activities of the Company, Dinesh Yogaratnam, Head of Marketing of HNBA and HNBGI stated, “Amongst several other
significant CSR initiatives, HNBA sponsored the Deaf Cricket Team of Sri Lanka for the 3rdAsia Deaf Cricket Cup which was held in Hyderabad, Indiaunder the category of sports. The Company provided financial assistance to veteran artists during 2017 under the category of arts and culture. We have beena part of a school rehabilitation program which focused on developing infrastructure of underprivileged schools and has provided multiple scholarships for university students under the category of education.Our Corporate Stewardship initiatives endeavors to touch as many lives as possible in areas that we feel has the most pressing need. We will continue to do our part, in our own way to help enliven and uplift the lives of those in our community”.
Jan
HNB Assurance PLC (HNBA) announced the appointment of Mr. Ravi Abeysuriya as a Non-ExecutiveIndependent Director.This appointment is made subject to the approval of the Insurance Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka.Accordingly, the Board of Directors of HNBA comprises of Mrs. Rose Cooray, Mr. Sarath Ratwatte, Mr. Mahendra Jayasekera, Mr. Dilshan Rodrigo, Mrs. SiromiWickramasinghe, Dr. Sivakumar Selliah, Mr. Deepthi Lokuarachchi, Mr. Rajive Dissanayakeand Mr. Ravi Abeysuriya. A Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants,Chartered Financial Analyst and an MBA holder ofMonash University, Australia, Mr. Abeysuriya currently holds the position of Group Director of Candor Group, one of the largest listed companies in Kuwait. Mr. Abeysuriya is currently responsible for private equity investments for a 200 MN Dollar Private Equity Fund. Prior to his current role, Mr. Abeysuriya served Hayleys Group as the Head of Strategic Business Development, JP Morgan as the Head of Corporate Finance and was the Managing Director of Amba Research Lanka and was the Managing Director/CEO of Fitch Ratings Lanka. Mr. Abeysuriya has held several senior positionsin Private Equity Investment, consulting the World Bank andthe Government of Sri Lanka and has functioned as a permanent member of the Financial Sector Reforms Committee (FSRC), a Prime Ministerial Task Force appointment. Mr. Abeysuriya was appointed a Commission Member of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka. He was appointed as a Director of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation and was the Chairman of the Investment Committee. In addition, Mr. Abeysuriyawas the immediate past President of Colombo Stock Brokers Association. Former President of Chartered Financial AnalystSociety of Sri Lanka, President of IT Enabled Services Association(ITESA) and Vice President of Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies(SLASSCOM)and is the current President of the Association of Alternative Financial Institutions and a Member of the National Agenda Committee of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.
Jan
The Life Claims Department of HNB Assurance PLC (HNBA)obtainedthe certification in compliance with ISO 9001 : 2015 for its service standards. TheLife Claims Departmentqualifiedfor this certification upon being independently audited and meeting the specific criterion.The certification was issued for the Claims Process followed throughout,from claim intimation to claim settlement.
Sharing his thoughts, Managing Director/CEO of HNBA and its fully owned subsidiary HNB General Insurance Limited, Deepthi Lokuarachchistated “our primary goalin customerservicehas always been focused on its assured qualityand theISO certification affirms the effectiveness of the consistent service providedover the years. This certification demonstratesour commitment towards our customers and outlines the cutting-edge practices the Company follows throughout its Claims Settlement Process”.
Speaking on the ISO certification, Chief Operating Officer of HNBA, Prasantha Fernando stated “As an entity highly focussed on quality, we are honoured toearn the ISO certification and thisprovides that additional degree of assurance to our stakeholders of our continuous improvements inour service quality standardsand deliverables”.
Chief Technical Officer of HNBA, Dinesh Udawatta stated “I’m indeed grateful to the entire team for embarking on thisjourney to obtainthe world’s most popular quality management servicecertification as well asfor maintaining a servicestandardof highqualitythroughout the years.I am confident that this certification will bolster
our resolve to push the envelope of customer service further and to continue toprovide a superlative service to our patronage”.