Assupol: Best Life Assurer Southern Africa 2018

For more than a century, South African life insurer Assupol has been an agent of change. The company continues to challenge the market, leading the industry towards improved sustainability and social inclusion. Assupol has set up a number of unique partnerships to open the insurance industry’s tightly regulated value chain to those yet unable to meet the stringent requirements.

To that end, Assupol last year agreed to appoint 44 women university graduates with degrees in finance to its staff. The initiative, unique in both size and scope, is the result of a cooperative agreement signed with Omama Be Sizwe (Mother of the Nation) – an organisation with deep societal roots owned by black women. The new hires will be trained as financial advisers. In time, Assupol hopes to open new distribution channels for its products this way, and broaden still further its client base.

Assupol has been repeatedly recognised as one of South Africa’s best employers. Global business consultancy Deloitte granted the insurer its platinum seal of approval in the best company to work for category. Assupol is a favourite of customers as well: a high-performance insurer by nature and tradition, the company has deployed both technology and human expertise to offer a range of consistently superior products delivered efficiently and with full transparency. Assupol is especially known for significantly raising the benchmark of processing times for insurance claims. Its lightning-fast pay-out routine has received wide acclaim and thoroughly disrupted industry practices. It also helps bereaved families in their time of need.

Amongst South Africa’s life insurers, Assupol boasts one of the lowest incidences of unclaimed benefits. The company maintains a dedicated department to identify and locate beneficiaries of unclaimed insurance pay-outs.

The CFI.co judging panel has followed Assupol’s corporate trajectory for a number of years and is thus not at all surprised to note that the company continues to produce strong results: last year, Assupol saw its new business increase by an annual average of 25% over the past five years and in 2017 registered a 26.8% jump in operating profits. The judges congratulate Assupol on its solid achievements and its win of the 2018 Best Life Assurer Southern Africa Award.