Islamic insurer proves popular with non-muslims too
The Prudential’s Malaysian Islamic insurer Prudential BSN Takaful (PruBSN) will spend about 7m ringgit (£1.4m) to set up seven branches next year, official Bernama news agency says.
Two branches would be located in the area around capital Kuala Lumpur and southern Johor state, the company's chief executive Mohamad Salihuddin Ahmad said.
"The other five branches will also be located in state capitals.It will cost us about a million ringgit to establish each new branch," Salihuddin is quoted as saying. The firm is a 51:49 joint venture between Malaysian lender Bank Simpanan Nasional and the UK’s Prudential. It was set up in 2006
The firm currently has three centres of operations in Kuala Lumpur, namely the shared services hub located in Menara Yayasan Tun Razak, the marketing and administration centre in Wangsa Maju and its headquarters at Menara Prudential in Jalan Sultan Ismail.
How Takaful works
Under Islamic insurance, members contribute to a pool of funds that is used to indemnify participants who suffer a loss.
The funds are invested according to sharia law. This sets strict criteria, including avoiding interest-bearing loans, gambling, pork and alcohol-related activities. Profits made are distributed among members.
The company has 35% market share in terms of new business growth.
Salihuddin said: "We have grown by leaps and bounds. From only just 20 staff, the company has 200 today and about 9,000 agents.”
Of its present total agency force, seven out of ten are non-Muslim, which reflects the growing awareness and importance of the Takaful business.
PruBSN also has 190,000 policy holders, of whom 34% are non-Muslims.
