Malaysia’s Axa AFFIN Life Appoints New CEO

Malaysia's Axa AFFIN Life Appoints New CEO Rebecca Ng

Axa AFFIN Life Insurance Berhad [78840], a joint venture between Australia-based Axa Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd [86639] and Malaysia-based financial conglomerate AFFIN Holdings Berhad, said that it has appointed Loke Kah Meng as its chief executive officer following the regulatory approval granted by the Bank Negara Malaysia.

Prior to joining Axa AFFIN, Loke was formerly the executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Great Eastern Life Assurance (Malaysia) Berhad, in charge of the overall strategic direction of product and corporate marketing, health care services, bancassurance, group insurance, as well as accident and health insurance.

He had also taken up the positions of executive vice president and was appointed actuary of Manulife Insurance (Malaysia).

With Loke's 24 years experience and diverse functional exposure in the industry, Axa AFFIN said that his appointment is expected to "provide new impetus" to the insurer's strategic growth plan.

According to Axa AFFIN, in 2008, the company noted "a triple-digit growth on its new business premium." The insurer also believes the accelerated growth is expected to continue towards its vision of "becoming the preferred financial protection and wealth management company by 2012" with Loke's leadership.

Incorporated in February 2006, Axa AFFIN is part of the France-based international financial institution Axa Group and has a retail base of more than 1 million bank customers across 79 bank branches in Malaysia.

Currently, Axa AFFIN has around 140 employees with A$88 million (US$77 million) funds under management.

(By Rebecca Ng, Hong Kong news editor: [email protected])

(c) 2009 A.M. Best Company, Inc. Axa AFFIN Life Insurance Berhad [78840], a joint venture between Australia-based Axa Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd [86639] and Malaysia-based financial conglomerate AFFIN Holdings Berhad, said that it has appointed Loke Kah Meng as its chief executive officer following the regulatory approval granted by the Bank Negara Malaysia.