Mark O’Dell has been appointed as the first CEO of the Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (LIAM) effective Wednesday.

With more than 38 years of experience in the industry, O’Dell retired as a CEO of  Manulife Insurance Berhad in October of 2018. He had been the CEO at that insurance firm for five years.

For LIAM, the aim is to ensure that the life insurance industry reaches new levels and a life insurance policy becomes common across all Malaysians, said LIAM president Anusha Thavarajah in a statement.

“LIAM will be better placed to accelerate our national aspiration of increasing the penetration rate of life insurance, reducing the protection gap and improving customer satisfaction levels,” said Thavarajah who was elected as the first woman president for LIAM earlier this year. “Most importantly, LIAM would be able to play an influential role to support nation building and improving the quality of life of Malaysians.”

Established in 1974, the Life Insurance Association of Malaysia or LIAM is a trade organization with about 16 members--14 of which are life insurance companies and the other two are life reinsurance companies. The organization’s primary goal is to create a robust life insurance industry in the country and help regulatory authorities in establishing rules that govern this industry.

Image credit : manualife.com