4 minute read
A true believer that grit and passion are key to overcoming any challenge, PolicyStreet Co-Founder Winnie Chua shares her thoughts and experience on the developing world of insurance.
She discusses optimism related insurance, why Malaysia is a good testbed for entrepreneurs and an ANU experience that planted a seed of confidence in her.
Q. From your experience, could you identify the most significant change to the world of insurance?
Insurance incumbents are realising the importance in delighting customers, and that is a great change. Some incumbents are experimenting with changing business models to meet insurance needs, both the old economy and the new, sharing economy. The way the insurance world makes money, profitable as it may be, must be altered to better serve and retain consumers of the future.
Q. You were named in Forbes Asia 30 under 30 list. In what ways has your professional life changed?
The Forbes Asia 30 under 30 listing was a surreal example of how a simple pursuit can result in a great moment. It was an honour and even more so, hunger boost to push me to work harder to change how our industry works. It has definitely open doors to have these conversations with various stakeholders within the insurance ecosystem.
My ANU experience planted a seed of confidence in myself that if I put my full focus, sharpen my work ethics, there is nothing I cannot achieve.
Q. How important are Malaysia’s entrepreneurs to the region and the rest of the world?
Malaysian entrepreneurs are inherently multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual. We grew up watching Western pop culture, whilst our parents strived to inculcate in us the love to preserve traditions and heritage. If anything, we are well exposed, open to accept and embrace new things, and therefore sensitive towards identifying emotions, needs and wants of people from all walks of life. We can become very creative to re-purpose solutions available locally, to birth forth a whole new solution suitable for the region and rest of the world.
I’d always say that Malaysia as a country is a good testbed for entrepreneurs to understand intricacies in scaling businesses across different cultures.
Q. How do you assess the country’s insurance ecosystem?
Even though the insurance penetration rate locally has stagnated over the past years, I believe Malaysian insurance ecosystem is at an inflection point, and is poised for bigger things. The call to drive innovation in the century-old industry by injecting technological revolution by the Central Bank of Malaysia could not have come at a better time. PolicyStreet is committed to advance a higher life penetration and support the underinsured businesses of this market.
Q. After graduating from ANU with a degree in Actuarial Studies, you have travelled the world in various capacities. In what ways do you feel your experience at ANU could be linked to your success?
I had the privilege of getting involved in many campus initiatives. To name a few, I was one of the pioneering members of ANU Dance Club, and was also part of the International Students Department representing interests of international students. I loved the freedom of discovering my strengths and passions for solving problems, people and art, including music. Hence, my ANU experience planted a seed of confidence in myself that if I put my full focus, sharpen my work ethics, there is nothing I cannot achieve.
Winnie Chua will be speaking at an event in Kuala Lumpur on 19 June. Click here for more details.
The ANU College of Business and Economics offers an extensive range of specialised programs in Actuarial Studies. Click here for more details.