Another year has gone by full of great challenges and opportunities. While 2021 was a trying year for many, particularly those who have struggled with the health and socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic, it was also the year where we saw signs of recovery taking shape and great innovation. But one thing is clear, the world has changed dramatically and so has MII. In an environment where society's expectations are increasing and changing by the day, it is more vital than ever that we maintain an unwavering commitment to quality across the organization. That’s the reason we focus on our customers and are constantly looking for ways to enhance our products and the quality of our service to meet and exceed the expectations of our stakeholders.
Overall, 2021 was a good year with improvements in most lines of business. Our virtual examinations as well as online trainings have proven to be key enablers for our improved performance this financial year. Prudent management of our costs continued to be a priority for us.
Looking ahead, we hope 2022 will be the year where we truly move on from the pandemic. We are excited for what the future holds and have lined up a number of new initiatives to catalyze innovation, raise professional standards, enhance efficiency and customer experience and build industry capacity. Through our internal transformation to change our mindset, reskill and upskill, we will broaden the scope of our content coverage to include digital insurance, data analytics, ESG and social marketing. As we continuously engage with the industry, we hear the needs, we uncover the gaps, and we find solutions to provide only the best and relevant content for industry participants through our professional qualifications, certifications and short courses.
Sun Tzu aptly stated that amidst chaos there is also opportunity. 2021 was the year where we accelerated our digitalization efforts and kick started our journey to be a data driven organization. The pandemic offered many new opportunities in markets, products and technologies, and we have seen big shifts in preference and demand. In 2021, we ramped up our innovation, adapted our portfolio to changing customer and industry demands, and generated greater efficiencies across the organization.
2021 was a turning point for our transformation as we honed our efforts on one of our key missions which is to accelerate modernization and innovation of industry by developing future ready talent via initiatives such as:
We also continued our efforts to ensure our people and infrastructure were ready and able to support the digital pivot and changing industry and customer demands. We invested heavily in new tools and technology to enhance internal efficiencies and customer experience. We continued upskilling and reskilling our people from Senior Management to the functional levels to power our digital transformation and towards becoming data driven. These people investments led to teams in all business areas successfully launching a record number of innovative products, and services, to create a competitive edge in all the key markets in which we are active.
We are very aware of the fact that the progress we have made would not have been possible without the unwavering support of our Board, associations, partners, customers, and members around the world.
FOCUSING ON QUALITY
At MII, we aspire to be forward looking and I would like to think that it is what sets us apart today. We try harder and think differently about how we can value add. Amongst our peers in the industry, MII has moved fast in its transformation journey and has continued to show better results despite the pandemic and its impact. This validates our strategic priorities to focus on customer outcomes and modernize internally and externally.
In the future, we believe that a step-change in quality of content and diversification of our offerings will be achieved through new partnerships locally and internationally. Acknowledging the fact that we do not have all the expertise we need, we look to those who can help us meet our objective synergistically. We have been fortunate to have great partners who share our values and goals to create powerful outcomes.
FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
Despite the challenging operating environment, we posted a record increase of 89% in 2021 for our training programmes largely driven by demand for our customised programmes and industry players ramping up reskilling and upskilling of their employees. For
Professional Qualification and Certification, we had registered an increase in the number of registered students from 1,302 in 2020 to 2,272 in 2021. Examination offerings saw a 7% increase in 2021 largely due to scaling our online exam capabilities which is further enhanced with online invigilation to ensure the integrity of the examination we administer.
Our well-received #LearningNeverStops webinar brand recorded the highest increase in the number of participants, a total of 5,041 in 2021 compared to 2,271 in 2020, a 122% jump. From the 40 webinars that we conducted, we can conclude that the industry still requires and prefers insurance-specific and technical topics. This proves that staying informed and updated with industry changes, news, and global case studies are vital to enhance the knowledge of our industry practitioners and prepare for the future of insurance. We will continue to source for global experts and latest and best practices to be shared via our webinars for the benefit of our members.
As forecasted, MII’s e-Learning product subscriptions also increased by 11% with 80,219 subscribers in 2021. It is uplifting to see how the industry is fast adapting to e-learning as an alternative mode of learning, a welcoming after-effect of the pandemic.
Further details on our performance by product lines of business is available in the full annual report.
2022 OUTLOOK
In the coming years, our aim is to break new grounds and exceed our past and forecasted performance and to be well on our way towards the final phase of our transformation plan. We are also looking forward to collaborating more closely alongside other Institutes in the industry at our new office at AICB Building.
It was a year of headwinds locally and globally, but we persevered and for that I would like to first and foremost thank my team at MII for their hard work and commitment to our mission. I am always grateful to the MII Board for their guidance and unwavering support. Our sincere gratitude goes out to the industry associations, Bank Negara Malaysia, our Councils and Committees, our customers, members and business partners for their trust and support. We are excited to continue our journey to provide value as an institute built by the industry, for the industry.
With your support, we will continue to strengthen MII as a business for today and the future.
Thank you.
Shalini Pavithran
Chief Executive Officer
The Malaysian Insurance Institute
