Saudi Arabia’s Bank Al Jazira dominates the field of life takaful in terms of both volume and innovation, and helped to develop the Saudi insurance market following the introduction of new insurance legislation. The bank beat Munich-based financial services company FWU Group to take the top spot in this category.
Among its product offerings is a basket of family products, including a savings plan for education and marriage that adheres to Islamic inheritance law. The bank’s takaful ta’awuni division (TTD) also uses a unitized/unit-linked investment approach for all of its products that allows clients to chose the investment fund and strategies that best suit their risk appetite. The TTD also uses an agency model (unique in Saudi Arabia) that involves takaful sales agents who are 100% Saudi nationals; it even boasts a division of female sales agents, a pioneering move in the kingdom.
On the volume side, TTD recorded a 216% increase in new business between Q3 2004 and Q3 2005. Over the same period, the number of sales staff increased by 157%.
Although Bank Al Jazira is for now exclusively focused on Saudi Arabia, it stresses that its life takaful products and services are universal in scope and its takaful wakalah model is capable of being replicated in the wider region.