KUALA LUMPUR: Allianz Life Insurance Malaysia Berhad (Allianz Life) aims to recruit 500 graduates into its life insurance agent ecosystem this year following its partnership with renowned business school, INSEAD.
Allianz Life chief sales officer Raymond Cheah said the figure only encompasses mid of this year until the end of 2023 when the graduating programme will be in full swing and garner 1,500 graduates next year to propel its insurance agent recruitment programme.
“The collaboration with INSEAD, which is one of the world’s leading business schools, is to create a training and certification programme aimed at transforming and upskilling the organisation’s Life and Health business agency salesforce,” he told Bernama recently.
He said this six-month programme is a performance-based qualification initiative that recognises and rewards the top-producers agents across seven markets in Asia and is designed to upskill and revolutionise the learning experience of agents licensed in the Life and Health business.
“Specially designed and co-created by Allianz and INSEAD, the programme follows a hybrid training model consisting of both online and face-to-face content,” he said.
On the uniqueness of the collaboration with INSEAD, Cheah said the programme allows access to world-class professors, panel speakers, and industry practitioners, while the curriculum covers a wide range of topics from organisational leadership and customer management to marketing, sales and business strategy, agents will also be able to engage with their peers across the region through proven educational and expand their network while learning from one another.
“Fully sponsored by Allianz Asia Pacific, the programme offers agents the latest skills and knowledge to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving industry.
Top qualifiers will also have the chance to complete their training programme at the INSEAD campus in France, exchanging learning experiences with their counterparts for a truly global educational experience,” he said.
“Allianz Life is focusing on recruitment this year, especially in its flagship recruitment programme, known as the Career of Excellence and Opportunities (CEO) Programme, which plays the part of a training academy to reel in future leaders on board.
“This is a 24-month programme. We provide comprehensive training, fixed income like an entrepreneurship fund to get them stabilised in this industry. The aim is to provide full-time, committed professional agents who are able to sell all insurance solutions not only life insurance but also general insurance,” he said.
Cheah said another programme which should bode well for part-timers is the Flexi Entrepreneur Programme (FEP), which is crafted for those that are not willing to commit full-time while having a part-time job as a gig economy proprietor.
He said this is because some agents did not like the idea of being terminated if they did not meet the quota.
“Under this flexi mechanism, there is no need to fill in any quota for the year they join and the year after. Such agents can relax and sell policies as much or as little as they want.
“When they get closer to business, come to training, try it out and get a bit of success, they will get the confidence and that is where they can decide if they want to join the CEO Programme. And that is more on a full-time basis,” he said.
Another programme is the Allianz LEAP (Learning, Engagement, Apprenticeship, Purpose) programme in collaboration with all the major universities in Malaysia.
Cheah said under the Allianz LEAP, there is a Student Entrepreneur Programme (SEP) which offers students an opportunity to become an agent while they’re still in school, to obtain a basic understanding of financial planning and insurance protection, and join Allianz Life by contract to slowly cultivate the interest in entrepreneurship.
“When they are ready, after graduating they may move into the CEO programme. SEP is to get them exposed early to the importance of financial planning especially in the area of insurance protection,” he said.
Cheah also emphasised the importance of insurance coverage as statistics showed that Malaysians are lack of insurance coverage.
“In the last 10 years, the medical inflation rate has been between 10-15 per cent every year, so this will be a big burden for the government in the future because more Malaysians will age.
“And when they reach the age of 50 or 60 years and have no protection in terms of personal health policy, then the government will have to bear that cost,” he said. – BERNAMA
