100% Liban initiatives are supporting the private sector in Lebanon.

The focus group entitled: " How to increase awareness, reach more audiences and develop the internal structure of the insurance and financial planning companies?" was moderated by:

-Mr. Naji Haddad /Financial Planner-Founder &CEO @ Legacy Builders

-Mr. Jade W. Dagher /Certified Management Consultant -Founder @EXPAND

-Mrs. Pamela Ibrahim El Kosseifi / General coordinator @ 100% Liban

Gathered around economic experts, founder and CEOs of insurance companies as well as members of 100% Liban :

- Dr. Mounir Rached, President of Lebanese Economic Association

- Mr. Thomas Schellen, Editor @Executive Magazine

- Mr. Pierre Sebaaliny, General manager of Bancassurance

- Mrs. Carla Abdo, Deputy CEO @ADIR

- Mr. Wajih Choueiry, Regional head of Life @ ARABIA

- Mr. Labib Nasr, General manager of LIA ASSUREX

- Mr. Amer Abdulmalak, Head of agency @METLIFE

- Mr. Walid Madi, General manager @ Bankers

- Mr. Ziad Chehabelddine, Chairman @ Brics

- Mr. Patrick Gerges, Arope

- Mr. Ramzi Mrad, Chief Audit officer @Bancassurance

The session emphasized on rebuilding trust in this sector, stating that people has no longer trust in the insurance system.The plan was to put the competition aside for a moment and to find a way to build a new efficient system with new policies , good communication and awareness.

The meeting addressed the problem of volatility of the Lebanese pounds, Dr. Mounir Rashed intervened by stating that “People presume that the problem is in the deposit refund, but in fact there’s no country that could do that in a matter of days. The best solution for now is to adopt a floating system in the exchange rate. This will not only solve 80% of the problem but also will help in regaining trust.

However, the main issue with insurance companies in the MENA region is a lack of knowledge. Clients are signing contracts without  understanding the terms, and agents are failing to mention every rule in the contract. The misunderstanding led to a lack of trust, which resulted in a significant loss for the insurance companies.

Mr. Naji Haddad states that “Legacy Builders, the event's sole organizer, ensured that Beirut Life Insurance Seminar(BLIS )became a significant event in the life insurance industry.This CSR initiative allows insurance professionals and agents from Lebanon, the MENA region, and Europe to interact with one another and discuss life insurance matters on an international level. Every year, international speakers visit Beirut to share their knowledge and insights on the most recent topics in the life insurance industry”.

The attendees agreed on the following steps:

• Working on special programs and new policies
• Combining strategies
• Offer training from big international companies such as : Gamma international, MDRT….
• Introducing innovation and the latest technologies to this

sector

• How to increase the effectiveness of the sales function with a professional team to plan and implement growth strategies.
• Raising awareness
• Helping and engaging in Micro economics in order to have an effect on the macro economics
• Educating the agents
• Requiring certificates in this field

Mr. Thomas Schellen highlighted the lack of trust due to the lost money in most of the savings plans associated to the banking issues. He also focused on the gap created after the Beirut Blast in August 2020.

Mr. Ziad Chehabeddine defended the position of insurance companies who have supported and paid a lot of claims, despite the fact that there were no legal affirmation regarding the claims. Several CEOs have also agreed on this issue, especially that the legal system is not always in favor of the insurance companies, and most of the times, the blame is thrown on the wrong party.

Mrs. Carla Abdo also defended the trust issue and highlighted the problems of the insurance companies due to the current system, which brings back the importance of lobbying to support the insurance sector in this tough situation.

Other CEOs also agreed that the insurance sector is playing a big role, especially after the crisis of the banks and paying the price of chaos in the country.

Mr. Jade Dagher summarized the main point to be acted upon as an agenda for the next sessions: enhancing the trust, raising the awareness for both the agents and the public, improving the communication to the public, especially that many companies get the blame, but never the credit for the efforts or solutions provided. It is also important to raise the agents’ standards to improve the image of the profession.

Last but not least, new rules and regulations have to be enforced to protect all stakeholders and ensure a continuous win-win scenario for all parties. There’s a lot to learn from othercountries who have survived crisis previously but Lebanon always has a special case due to the unfortunate political system.

Believing that Lebanon need all our initiatives to have a healthy economic roadmap, 100% Liban is committed to continue the role of mediator to bring together all sectors pushing forward for a better Lebanon.

For the fifth consecutive year, BLIS has moved from being an event to become an experience for all stakeholders: agents, managers, companies and the international speakers. Every year brings new challenges by being proactive and positive .

100% Liban as a partner with Legacy Builders and Expand participated through a panel moderated by its general coordinator Mrs.Pamela Ibrahim El Kosseifi and presented by 2 members of the group:

Dr.Fouad Zmokhol president of MIDEL AND Co- Founder of 100% Liban & Mrs. Lynda Achkouty Mouawad , Business coach and head of Keep Track committee at 100% Liban .

The panel tackled 3 main topics : Business Now What? , Beirut Now What? , 100% Liban Now What ? that discussed the following :

-Business NOW WHAT?:

*Assessing Lebanon’s role in the region from the past, present and future .

* Why do we need to innovate in emerging economies after the pandemic?

*The role of individual initiatives in saving economies during crises? 

-Beirut NOW WHAT?:

*What have changed in Beirut from 2019 to today? What are our strengths today?

*From 2019 until today, how do we assess the proposals and solutions?

* Where are the opportunities in Lebanon today?

-100% Liban NOW WHAT ?:

*How do you explain the importance of 100% Liban as a"THINK TANK"?

*The role of the committees that have arisen, and what is the role of youth in this model?

*What about unifying the economic vision in Lebanon? 

Blis Experience event is reaffirming itself as a yearly beacon for the insurance industry in general, and the life insurance sector in particular.

100% Liban is aiming to build bridges between actors of the private sector to create a unified vision towards a better Lebanon.