Takaful Ikhlas Records Impressive Results Five Years Into Operations

Bernama -- Although Takaful Ikhlas Sdn Bhd (Takaful Ikhlas) has only reached its fifth year of operations, its performance has been a source of pride, recording an impressive RM428 million in contributions or premiums from its customers as at the end of the financial year ended March 31, 2008.

Although relatively new, Takaful Ikhlas, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Malaysian National Reinsurance Bhd (MNRB), has continued to progress fast to achieve its vision of a becoming a leading provider of Islamic based insurance services.

Chairman of Takaful Ikhlas Sharkawi Alis said the company was aiming for premiums amounting to RM520 million for the next financial year .

The company's confidence of achieving more than 20 percent growth is based on two current factors, he said.

Firstly, there is greater awareness of Islamic based insurance and there is the company's own ability to effectively operate amid competition, he said.

The high revenue has also further boosted the confidence of corporates and individuals in the company's ability, he said.

Takaful Ikhlas which opened its latest branch in Kuantan recently, also has offices in Kuala Lumpur, Kota Bahru, Sungai Petani, Johor Bahru, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu and Melaka.

It plans to open up new regional offices in Ipoh and Putrajaya before the end of this year.

It has 600,000 customers comprising individuals and corporates and its agents meanwhile are expected to increase by 33 percent to 6,000 from the present 4,500 agents it has nationwide.

On whether the recent price increases in petrol and other goods will affect the company's operations, Sharkawi said the insurance sector will be the least to be affected.

"Taking into account the downturn around 1986 and 1997, statistically not many insurance industries faced downturn compared with others. Certainly there were some effects but they were minimal and short-lived," he said.

"During a crisis like this, more people opt to save for the future," he added.

Among the products it offers include education related insurance such as Takaful Ikhlas Pendidikan, family based schemes as well as schemes targetted at women like Takaful Ikhlas Wanita as well as general motor insurance.