FWU Group recognised as the "Best Bancatakaful" provider at Islamic Business & Finance Awards

FWU developed Market-leading position in the Arabian area at the “Islamic Banking”

On 14th December, the ceremony, hosted in the prestigious Emirates Towers Hotel in Dubai, recognised the most successful Islamic institutions from around the world. FWU Group has been given the "Best Bancatakaful" award on the back of the success of its international Family Takaful business. The awards nominees for each category were selected by a panel of world-renowned, financial experts and the winners were chosen by the readers of Islamic Business & Finance Magazine.

Dr. Angela S. Dirrheimer (Member of the Executive Board of FWU Group),
Dr. Manfred J. Dirrheimer (Chairman FWU Group)

 

"My team and I are delighted to be the recipient of this prestigious award, as it demonstrates that we are one of the global leaders in Bancatakaful business," says Dr Dirrheimer, Chairman and CEO of FWU Group. "At a global level, we are today the largest producer of Bancatakaful in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council: Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates) and Malaysia, the two most important markets that we have a presence in."

The Award 2009

Already, FWU Group had received the accolade for "Best Takaful Operator" - both in 2007 and 2008 - in recognition for the group's growing footprint, reputation for innovation, creative product design, IT-systems and quality of white labelled unit-linked savings plans.
"FWU Group has raised the bar of innovation and service excellence," adds Sohail Jaffer, Partner and Head of International Business Development. "We are glad to have established sustainable strategic relationships with banks and takaful operators in several emerging markets and succeeded in fulfilling the long-term savings and financial planning needs of individual consumers. It is by nurturing close Relationships with both our bank distribution and takaful product partners that we have been able to build a successful business and have made significant investment in product and process innovation, which we passionately believe in."

From left to right: Robin Amlôt (Managing Editor, CPI Financial), Sohail Jaffer (Partner, International
Business Development FWU Group), Dr. Manfred J. Dirrheimer (Chairman of FWU Group), Nigel Rodrigues
(CEO, CPI Financial)

Indeed, FWU Group has recently introduced, in conjunction with an international bank, a dynamic principal protected equity strategy for Takaful customers. The main benefit for the customer is that it secures capital growth at maturity by locking in the highest net asset value (NAV) of the strategy measured on a monthly basis during the complete term of the investment. This unique product enhancement is now integrated into the Family Takaful savings programmes. FWU Group also believes that process innovation is key to customer convenience and is managing since five years a web portal (FWU Internet-based Life Office System - FILOS) to make the process of applying for family takaful savings plans as easy and convenient as the opening of a current account or the application for a credit card.

Geographical footprint

In Saudi Arabia, FWU Group has a strategic tie up with the National Commercial Bank, the kingdom's most prominent bank with a total of 275 branches dedicated to Islamic banking and servicing 2.2 million customers. Both NCB and FWU have equity stakes in Al Ahli Takaful Company, which provides Takaful solutions to the bank's customer base in the Kingdom.

In the United Arab Emirates, FWU Group has established its Middle East regional hub in Dubai, where it has developed strategic partnerships with the Emirate's most prominent banks such as Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Emirates NBD, Mashreqbank, Royal Bank of Scotland, First Gulf Bank and Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB). The latter counts a customer base of 900,000 in the region and has started offering FWU Group Life Takaful products since January this year.

In October 2009, FWU Group has shown its commitment to developing business in Pakistan by signing an agreement with Standard Chartered Bank, the dominant bancassurance leader and committed to distributing Family Takaful plans to its customers. Other bank distribution partners in Pakistan include DIB, who has just announced it was increasing its retail network by opening ten new branches early December, Muslim Commercial Bank, Emirates Global Islamic Bank and Bank Islami.

In Malaysia, FWU Group has partnered with AmBank, member of the AmBank Group, the country's premier financial services provider, who has announced the opening of two more retail branches in November, bringing its total network to 189 outlets throughout Malaysia. Through this impressive network and thanks to this partnership, FWU Group has provided its suite of Takaful products to the bank's customers.

Besides those four prominent markets, FWU Group has ambitious expansion plans for the Family Takaful business and is planning to further extend its reach to countries such as Turkey, Egypt, Morocco and Indonesia. FWU Group's aim is to create a Family Takaful business for both the worldwide Muslim community and non-Muslim customers. To achieve this ambitious goal, FWU Group has worked closely with international industry bodies like IFSB in order to enhance and promote best practices in the Takaful industry.

Guests of the FWU Group

 

Dr. Angela S. Dirrheimer (Member of the Executive Board of FWU Group
and responsible for IT), Pervaiz Ahmed (CEO, Pak Qatar Family Takaful
Limited, Karachi, Pakistan) Pak Qatar is an associated company of the
FWU Group and received the “Best use of Technology”-Award. Indirectly
also an Award for the FWU Group as the provider of the technology.

 

Dr. Angela S. Dirrheimer (Member of the Executive Board of FWU Group),
Prof. Dr. Wolf-Rüdiger Heilmann (Member of the Supervisory Board
of FWU Group)

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