Chairman - Non-Executive Director
Board of Directors
Executive Committee
Tan Hak Leh
Appointed as the Chairman to the Board of Directors of the Company on 15 July 2022. Mr. Tan Hak Leh is the Regional Chief Executive responsible for the AIA Group’s businesses operating in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Myanmar. He is a Director of various companies within the Group. Mr. Tan was the Chief Executive Officer of AIA’s operation in Thailand from 2016 to 2019, Group Chief Risk Officer in 2015 and Chief Executive Officer of AIA’s operation in Singapore from 2011 to 2015. Prior to joining the AIA Group, Mr. Tan was the Chief Executive Officer of Great Eastern Life, Singapore, and prior to that Mr. Tan was the Director of the Insurance Department of the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore). Mr. Tan has actively played a role in the insurance industry since 2005. His appointments include President of the Life Insurance Association (LIA), Singapore from 2010 to 2013, Vice Chair of Singapore College of Insurance from 2011 to 2013, and Vice President of Thailand Life Assurance Association from 2017 to 2018. Mr. Tan served as a Board Member of Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre Limited from 2008 to 2015.
Chathuri Munaweera
Chief Executive Officer / Executive Director
Appointed as the CEO and Executive Director to the Board of Directors of the Company on 01 May 2022. Ms. Chathuri Munaweera also serves as the Principal Officer of the Company, responsible for leading the overall business and management of the Company. She also heads the Board Investment Committee of the Company.She has over 23 years of leadership experience having last held the position of Chief Operations Officer / Director Operations of the Company prior to her appointmentas the CEO. She also has expertise in the field of law, compliance, human resources and services. She is an Attorney-at-Law and holds a Bachelor and Master of Laws from the University of Colombo and holds an International Diploma in Compliance from the International Compliance Association, UK. She is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management, UK. She served as the Company Secretaryfrom 2008 to 2022. She was recently named 'Emerging Leader of the Year' by Women Top 50 for 2023. She has served in the ExecutiveCommittee of International Chamber of Commerce in Sri Lanka and currently represents the Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Institute of Directors.
Stuart Spencer
Non-Executive Director
Appointed to the Board of Directors of the Company on 03 August 2017. Mr. Stuart Anthony Spencer started his career in New York at American Express Travel Related Services in Marketing. He is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and Brandeis University. Mr. Spencer serves as the Group Chief Marketing Officer of AIA, responsible for customer engagement, propositions, branding, AIA Vitality, communications, sponsorships, events, and marketing digitalisation. He is a director of various companies within the Group. Mr. Spencer occupied numerous leadership roles at AIG and AIA from 1996 to 2009, in the USA, Latin America and in Asia where he served as Global President of Accident & Health Worldwide for the AIG Life Companies. Mr. Spencer re-joined AIA in May 2017 from Zurich Insurance Group, where he was the CEO, General Insurance, Asia Pacific.
Deepal Sooriyaarachchi
Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointed to the Board of Directors of the Company on 17 May 2005 Mr. Deepal Sooriyaarachchi functioned as the Managing Director until end of February 2010. He continued as an Executive Director until April 2012 and was declared an independent Non-Executive Director in August 2012.He is a fellow of the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing, an Accredited Master Coach and a Master Mentor and has a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. Mr. Sooriyaarachchi is a Management Consultant, Author, Trainer, and a Speaker. He currently serves as an independent Non-Executive Director of Pan Asian Power PLC, Siyapatha Finance PLC, Kelani Cables PLC, Singer Sri Lanka PLC, Prime Land Residencies PLC, Lanka Shipping & Logistics (Pvt) Ltd,Med app (Pvt) Ltd and the Managing Director of SATI Human Development Institute (Pvt) Ltd. He also serves onthe Board of the Post Graduate Institute of Management of the University of Jayewardenepura (PIM). He was an independent Non-Executive Director of Sampath Bank PLC, and also served as the Commissioner of Sri Lanka Inventors Commission.
Sarath Wikramanayake
Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointed to the Board of Directors of the Company on 01 August 2016.Mr. Sarath Wikramanayake has also held previous directorships with the Company from 2003 to 2006 andthen till 2012. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka since 1979. Mr. Wikramanayake currently serves as a Director of several other companies including NDB Wealth Management Limited, NDB Investment Bank Limited ,NDB Capital Holdings Limited, NDB Capital Limited (Bangladesh), NDB ZEPHYR Partners Limited and UnionBank PLC. He has worked with the Bank of Butterfield, a Bermuda based international bank for 19 years, where he reached the position of Executive Vice-President. Since returning to Sri Lanka, he has been the Chief Executive Officer of Union Assurance Limited and the President of the Insurance Association of Sri Lanka in 2002.
Upul Wijesinghe
Executive Director
Appointed to the Board of Directors of the Company on 30 January 2023, Upul Wijesinghe heads the Distribution Division of the Company for the Life Insurance business. He also functions as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree with honors 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 of the Sri Lanka Insurance Institute in 2002 and 2003. He has over 35 years of management experience in the insurance industry.
Chathuri Munaweera
Chief Executive Officer
Chathuri is the Chief Executive Officer/Executive Director/Principal Officer of AIA Sri Lanka and serves as Executive Director on the Board. Her appointment as CEO was effective 01 May 2022.
Chathuri is a highly experienced executive with over 25 years of experience in the insurance industry in Sri Lanka. Prior to taking office as CEO, she was the Director Chief Officer Legal, Governance, and Operations of AIA Insurance Lanka responsible for Life Operations, Corporate Law, Company Secretarial, and External Relations. She has previously been the Company’s Chief HR Officer and Chief Compliance Officer.
Chathuri concluded her studies at Visakha Vidyalaya and is a lawyer by training (Sri Lanka Law College) with a Bachelor's and Master’s degrees in law from the University of Colombo. She is a Chartered Member, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, UK, and holds an International Diploma in Compliance (Graduate), ICA, (Manchester Business School, University of Manchester) UK.
Chathuri has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Company since 2006, playing a lead role in strategic planning and business achievements. She also led the complex corporate restructuring of AIA Sri Lanka to ultimately become a wholly owned subsidiary of AIA Group.
Upul Wijesinghe
Executive Director
Appointed to the Board of Directors of the Company on 30 January 2023. Upul Wijesinghe heads the 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 honors 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.
Hasitha Mapalagama
Chief Risk and Compliance Officer
Hasitha has over 16 years of experience in the life insurance industry and the finance industry with over 23 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 the 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 and a fellow of Chartered Professional Managers.
Senaka Rajapakse
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 organization, 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 the Postgraduate Institute of Marketing (PIM). Furthermore, he has won the LIMRA award twice.
Thushari Perera
Director Human Resources
Thushari heads the Human Resources and Facilities functions of the Company. She is a senior HR professional who counts over 16 years of experience in all areas of human resource management and leadership practices.
She is a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, United Kingdom and holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, United Kingdom.
She is a licentiate in chemistry from the Institute of Chemistry Ceylon. She is a Certified Associate Coach from Corporate Coach Academy, Malaysia and is a certified Training and Development Specialist in many areas of people management. Thushari represents the Company in many HR forums including the Insurance Association of Sri Lanka.
Chanaka Liyanage
Chief Agency Officer
Chanaka supports the Digitization and Transformation Journey of Agency Distribution and leads the 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 the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing and the Association of Professional Bankers in Sri Lanka.
Suresh Edirisinghe
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 and faster hospitalization claims payment through Health Claim Automation. These initiatives have also been identified as best practices of customer service by the AIA Group.
Having joined the company in 1998, he has specialized in Insurance Operations, Customer Experience Management and Risk Management. He is also serving as the Specified Officer of the company.
Suresh holds an MBA from the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM) of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka, and obtained his first degree from the 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 the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka Insurance Institute and the MBA unit of the University of Colombo.
Sampath Thushara
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.
Sasith Bambaradeniya
Chief Marketing Officer
Sasith is a proven marketing leader with over 15 years of experience in marketing communications, strategic planning, and operations leadership. He has 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.
His 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 a bachelor’s degree in Business, Major in Marketing and Management from the University of Newcastle, Australia.
Thusara Ranasinghe
Chief Legal Officer / Company Secretary
Attorney – at – Law, LL.M (Master of Laws, University of Colombo), LL.B (Bachelor of Laws, The Open University of Sri Lanka), BA (Bachelor of Arts, University of Colombo), Associate Member of the Chartered Insurance Institute, UK Chartered Insurer and a Fellow Member of the International Compliance Association, UK. 20 years of experience in the insurance industry and more than 15 years with the Company. Director of Rainbow Trust Management Limited which is the fully owned subsidiary of the Company. Held the positions of Chief Risk Officer from 2016 to 2017 and the Secretary to the Audit and Compliance Committee for more than 10 years. Holds Post Attorney’s Diploma in Banking and Insurance Laws from the Sri Lanka Law College and a Diploma in Portfolio and Investment Management from Institute of Bankers’ Sri Lanka.
A visiting lecturer at the University of Colombo from 2018 to date. Chairman of the Legal Advisory Forum of Insurance Association of Sri Lanka from 2014 to 2015.