For his dedication to improving the lot of agents and advisers, his constant quest to act as bridge between the industry and the regulator, and his tireless efforts to improve the industry, Dr Khoo Kah Siang was crowned the Executive Champion of the Year at the 2nd Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards.
A well-respected figure in the insurance industry, Dr Khoo joined Great Eastern Life Assurance Co Ltd in 2006 as Head of Group Corporate Finance and has held several portfolios in the company since, including Head of Group Actuarial, Appointed Actuary, as well as Chief Financial Officer.
Dr Khoo is currently the Senior Managing Director, Strategic Business Development and Regional Bancassurance responsible for the bancassurance business, new channels and new markets across the Great Eastern Group.
He was the President of the Life Insurance Association, Singapore from October 2013 till March 2017, Board Member of the Singapore College of Insurance (SCI), and is a Council Member on the Board of Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF), Chairman of the Financial Planning Standard Setting Committee in IBF, Commissioner of Great Eastern Life Indonesia (GELI), Director of Great Eastern Financial Advisers (GEFA), as well as director of a number of subsidiary companies in Great Eastern.
During his tenure as General Manager and CEO of the Singapore business, he led the transformation of Great Eastern Singapore on various fronts and maintained Great Eastern’s market leadership in Singapore. The company won the Life Insurance Company of the Year award in 2011 (GE Singapore) and 2013 (GE Holdings) and held first position in the National Customer Satisfaction Index by Singapore Management University for the Life Insurance category from 2013 to 2016.
Dr Khoo led the tied agency and advisers’ transformation through enhancing their professionalism. This was carried out with the strategy of recruiting advisers of sound character and quality, revolutionising training to fit the training needs of the advisers and empowering the advisers with the right tools to carry out their engagement with the customers effectively.
Dr Khoo has placed top priority on the development of their agents at all levels, to equip them with competencies to thrive in the changing environment. The training centre was revamped in 2012 to provide a first-class facility with environment for wireless gadgets. The latest medium and method of training have been adopted for the swift transfer of knowledge and effective skill upgrading.
He also played a critical role in the digital transformation of Great Eastern. Under his guidance, the company proactively leveraged technology to improve efficiency and productivity, while providing greater mobility for the advisers to deliver a superior customer experience. Notable enhancements were made to their financial planning and point-of-sales systems.
Dr Khoo was conferred the Distinguished Fellow of IBF in 2015 and was also one of three finalists in the 2015 Asia Insurance Industry Awards‘ Personality of the Year category. He was also invited to be a member of the MAS Financial Centre Advisory Panel to look at developing Singapore as a financial hub, as well as the Financial Sector tripartite committee to tackle talent issues amidst the financial sector’s transformation.
The 2nd Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards was organised by Asia Insurance Review with LIMRA as co-organiser, AIA as strategic partner, and Sun Life Financial as sponsor. The truly regional Awards saw winners from seven markets across Asia – China, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore.
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