OUR leadership team

Deputy Chief Executive Officer /Chief Agency Officer

He heads the Direct Sales Distribution Division of the Company for Life insurance business. He also functions as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree with honours from the University of Colombo and is an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute, UK. He also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Actuarial Science. He is an Alumni member of the International Center for Management Development, Switzerland. He was the President, Sri Lanka Insurance Institute in 2002 and 2003. He counts over 26 years of management experience in the insurance industry.
 

Director Information Technology / Chief Technology Officer

Umeshi heads the IT function of the Company and is responsible for the development and implementation of the IT strategy and mapping out the digital transformation roadmap. He counts over 15 years of experience in the IT & Digital Business spaces in diversified conglomerates which have businesses in Sri Lanka, India & Maldives.

Prior to joining AIA he was the Group Head of ICT & Digital business of a leading diversified group of companies where he was a key stakeholder in pioneering the cloud journey of the company & improving the business IT alignment. He also oversaw the corporate communications and group sustainability functions.

He holds a master’s degree from Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK and a Bachelor of Science in Business Information Technology from Staffordshire University, UK. He is also a member of the British Computer Society.

Chief Risk and Compliance Officer 

Hasitha has over 14 years of experience in the life insurance industry and the finance industry with over 21 years of experience in the fields of Risk, Compliance and Internal Auditing. He is an experienced and collaborative risk management and compliance expert with thorough, comprehensive and in-depth knowledge in Life Insurance and financial industry. With extensive experience in the fields of Risk management, Compliance and Internal Auditing, he led the setting-up and integration of the local Compliance function with AIA Group Compliance, at the time of acquisition of AIA Sri Lanka by AIA Group.

He is a member of The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and also holds an MBA from the Postgraduate Institute of Management affiliated with the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. He is also a Certified Anti-money Laundry Specialist (USA) and holds the Governance, Risk and Compliance certification from Australia. 

Director Partnership Distribution 

Senaka is a professional with extensive experience in sales and marketing in the Life Insurance Industry. He has gained a wealth of experience and knowledge while fostering strong relationships across the organisation, during his 22 years of service at AIA. Under his leadership, Partnership Distribution substantially increased its activity, productivity and contribution to the ANP and VONB of the Company.

He has completed his Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management from the Chartered Insurance Agency Management (CIAM) and Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing awarded by Postgraduate Institute of Marketing (PIM). Furthermore, he has won the LIMRA award twice.

Director Human Resources

Thushari Heads the Human Resources function of the Company, effective from January 2018. She is a senior HR professional who counts over 10 years of experience in all areas of Human Resource management and leadership practice. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personal Management, UK and holds a diploma in human resources from National Institute of Business Management. She also holds a Graduateship in Chemistry from the Institute of Chemistry Ceylon. 

She is a core member of the certified internal training faculty of the Company. She represents the Company in many HR forums including the Insurance Association of Sri Lanka

Deputy Chief Agency Officer/ Director Agency

Chanaka supports the Digitization and Transformation Journey of Agency Distribution and lead Premier Agency Circle expansion. In addition to these two core pieces, Chanaka works on driving other strategic projects. His vast experience over 20 years in sales allows him to bring a passionate, customer first approach that drives our Agency Distribution strategy successfully.

Chanaka holds a master’s degree in Business Administration, a Postgraduate Certificate in Business from the University of Southern Queensland, Australia and an Advanced Diploma from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK. He is also a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and holds an Associate Membership from Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing and Association of Professional Bankers in Sri Lanka. 

Director Operations

Suresh leads the Life Operations division of the company overseeing Technical processes, Digitalization of customer journeys and Transformation of operations towards simpler and faster customer service for a better customer experience. Suresh was instrumental in establishing the Customer Conservation unit of the company which supports customers to revive their policies and in turn to improve the revenue of the company. This initiative has also been identified as a good practice of customer service by the AIA Group.

Having joined the company in 1998 he has specialized in Risk Management, Insurance Operations, and Customer Experience Management. He is also serving as the Specified Officer of the company.

Suresh holds a MBA from Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM) of University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka and obtained his first degree from University of Moratuwa in the field of Engineering with an honor. He is a Member of the Institute of Risk Management (UK) and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Insurance (UK). He has been awarded Certified Risk Professional & Chartered Insurer titles from these apex institutions and is the first Sri Lankan to win memberships from both these institutions through examinations. He is also a regular visiting lecturer at the Finance Department of University of Sri Jayewardenepura and the MBA unit of University of Colombo.

Chief Financial Officer 

Sampath counts over 18 years of experience within the finance and auditing fields given his work experience in the industries of audit and assurance, apparel, telecommunication, manufacturing, and insurance. Sampath is considered an expert in IFRS 17, given his deep knowledge of the standard and his hands-on experience in leading the adoption of the standard.  He brings together his knowledge and expertise in Life Insurance from his current role and in General Insurance from his prior association with the Company’s fully owned subsidiary.  He has made his contributions to the Sri Lankan insurance industry as well as the accounting fraternity in general in terms of IFRS 17 and its implementation challenges in the local context.    

He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accounts of Sri Lanka (CA) and a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of UK (CIMA). He also holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Post Graduate Institute of Management, Sri Lanka.

Chief Marketing Officer 

Sasith is a proven marketing leader with over 15 years of experience in marketing communications, strategic planning and operations leadership who had spearheaded some notable and award-winning campaigns and disruptive innovation in the local insurance industry.

Having commenced his career at AIA, he accrued a unique combination of varied experiences across industries thereafter, the most recent being the CMO of Fairfirst Insurance Limited.

Sasith’s forte includes varied portfolios in product management, e-commerce, brand development and communications. He holds an MBA from the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM) University of Sri Jayewardenepura, and bachelor’s degree in Business, Major in Marketing and Management from the University of Newcastle, Australia.