TEXT: Many people ask me with awe and amazement the success story of Salaam Takaful Ltd. In a brief sentence it is a combination of Shariah compliance, technology and nontraditional decisions. Moreover, we tried to focus on welfare of the society and have taken unprecedented initiatives to create a better shared future for all. This success, no matter how simple it may look, is a result of a staunch belief which enabled us to overcome many practical hurdles and made it possible for us to be at the leading front.
We believed all along that our fate in FY2021 was not preordained. We exceeded expectations in nearly every measure of performance. We laid strong foundation for our business with innovative and ground-breaking initiatives. I feel extremely grateful to express that we have been featured in the prestigious list developed by Fintech Global, in which they recognize the top 100 insurtech entities from across the globe.
The acknowledgment in the esteemed Insurtech100 reflects the strength and untiring efforts of the entire team in our march towards the advancement of the industry and forging new frontiers in promoting technology-enabled Shariah compliant solutions. Yet, it is only one dimension of our achievements, there is much more to tell.
We’re making progress on environmental and social impact, on representation in the workplace, and on providing equal career opportunities to people across the nation. And we’re constantly improving our governance mechanisms to build upon the trust we’ve created with stakeholders over the years. Most importantly, as a growth business our ESG journey has been evolving over the past few years.
Starting with building a diverse and inclusive culture that rewards behaviors and supports our people to excel, we are now moving to develop a robust board-level ESG strategy and embed ESG risk analysis across all business lines. ESG investing soared to US$40.5 trillion and represented more than a third of the US$95 trillion global equity market last year.
As institutional investors are making ESG a key aspect of their decision making processes, a strong ESG proposition will create more value for our business, and through understanding the impact of our company’s operations on the environment we will be working to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Let me tell you some other dimensions too. Alhamdulillah, Salaam Takaful is the largest dedicated general takaful operator in Pakistan. So no wonder we are leading the industry having an impressive portfolio. It is a pleasure to tell that we have achieved a milestone of Rs. 2.2 billion in contributions as of year ended December, 2021. This impressive figure was never touched by any other dedicated general takaful operator in Pakistan. Breaking the industry norms, we decided to distribute the Participant Takaful Fund’s surplus amongst more than 10,000 policy holders. The initiative being the first instance of its nature has been quite fervently appreciated by the participants.
Another dimension of our success is technology. Today there is a revolutionary change in business techniques, approach, and presenting solutions with the help of modern technology. We are the first Islamic Insurtech, delivering the broadest set of capabilities of any professional services organization in the market today. We have used new and unorthodox methods of technology to enhance our capabilities and it has been the hallmark of our upward trajectory.
We established a comprehensive Sharia board consisting of a diversified representation of religious scholars including a female technical member as well.
Of the many achievements in FY21, what I’m most proud of is how we worked together and efforts of all teams have been nothing short of heroic. Considering the persistence shown by the employees and as a reward to them, Salaam Takaful Limited also proposed ESOS – ‘Employee Stock Options Scheme’ (subject to all relevant corporate and regulatory approvals) to provide them with the opportunity to participate in the future developments and have a greater sense of ownership for the company.
More of our unprecedented moves include the launch of parametric solutions for agri based products as well as travel takaful, an MTO plan for the Madaris Graduates and Ulema, Salaam Virtual Clinic, launch of Pay-As-You-Drive Takaful and all these are just to name a few and many more, even bigger plans are in the pipeline.
Another dimension is the society we are living in. I believe the profitability of any business is just one side of success. Playing a positive role in uplifting a society is more important and is the foremost achievement. Similarly to address the ignored and suppressed segments of the society is our another obligation. To build and establish institutions in the country is another profitability. We must remember that persons may come and go but institutes are like fortresses which stand for centuries protecting many generations.
The language, art & culture of Pakistan is a precious asset and heritage of Pakistan. Salaam Takaful Limited has been playing its part towards sustainability and revival of our culture, literature, and language by actively participating in events and forums designed to propagate the said cause. We love our writers, poets and artists and joined them in this noble cause of spreading soft image of our country and society. I realized that this prestigious section of our society was not touched on this scale before. Urdu world is beyond the boundaries of our country now so we are planning these efforts in different parts of the world as well.
In closing, Salaam Takaful Limited plays an integral role in the fabric of our society, from comprehensive coverage plans to digitally-enabled feasible customer journeys. We are excited by the opportunity we get every day to make an even greater impact in our society, and proud to share our progress as our journey continues. We will continue to accelerate our impact in these areas of sustainability, societal change and community support, as we advance our growth agenda and create value for our stakeholders. May Allah be with us!
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022