Strategic Insurance continues winning ways, now empowered by Uniba Partners

•  Inter Insurance Cricket Tourney a fixture in annual cricketing calendar 

The Inter Insurance Company Cricket Sixes and a Netball tournament gets underway this year on Saturday 24 August, at the Mercantile Cricket Grounds, organised by the SLII under sponsorship of Strategic Insurance Brokers — local insurance’s most trusted intermediaries.

The Lakvinsure Cup is now a fixture in the Sri Lankan cricketing calendar, and is the insurance industry championship that makes sure health, wellness and fitness via sport is at the forefront of the insurance industry’s goals for its internal and external customers.

“We insure, and cricket insures against wellness, and Employment Benefits (EB) debacles,” said Sib’s Director Indrajith Fernando, encapsulating the spirit of Lakvinsure Cricket Sixes.

“This year the sponsor comes fresh from launching a partnership with UNIBA partners,” the client-centric leading global network that provides insurance broking, risk management and employee benefits solutions, said Udeni Kiridena, CEO of the Sri Lanka Insurance Institute, adding, “and we are all the more glad for Sib’s stake in the championship.”

The sponsorship is also significant in the year that Sib with its partner firm Beyond Wealth (BW) launched an Employee Benefit and a wellness vertical for wealth creation and protection, with an accent on the individual wellness theme, with BW supporting the inaugural netball tournament.

UNIBA’s overriding objective is to assist and protect clients in a constantly changing world.

“The Lakvinsure cricket sixes in essence is the industry’s way of protecting clients with good health, by setting the example for health wellness and fitness,” Indrajith further added.

14 teams will be vying for honours at this year’s tourney with individual players competing for special mention in player of the tournament, and other similar categories.

The tourney is essentially symbolic of the crucial importance of insurance in sport, especially in cricket, particularly with the ever-expanding cricketing calendar worldwide.

“For example, insurers in India, played a crucial part in the roaring success of the IPL even though the Cricket Boards of respective players in foreign counties would not insure their individual players for the IPL. The Indian Companies couldn’t insure the foreign players because of the technicality of Indian insurance regulations about foreigners. But neighbouring colleagues managed to provide the best protection for these players by insuring the league’s teams which were ‘Indian’. Since at least some of the owners of all the teams are Indians, their insurance liabilities could be covered by Indian firms, extending to their players,” Fernando said drawing a parallel from India over the crucial symbolism of Lakvinsure in the matter of providing protection for sportsmen. Sib as it has done always, wants to spur more similar success stories in Sri Lankan cricket’s risk cover saga, he said.

Strategic Insurance Brokers, the Insurance and reinsurance broker in Sri Lanka, is the sole local member of the UNIBA Partners, represented in over 132 countries around the world. With operations spanning over several decades, SIB has diverse experience operating as a registered composite insurance and reinsurance broker in Sri Lanka. The company now empowered by Uniba Partners manages insurance and reinsurance affairs of insurance companies, individuals, financial institutions, and other corporate entities internationally, and locally.

The winners, the runners up team, the Lakvinsure Plate Champions, the Bowl Champions, the best batsman, the best bowler, and the Man of the Series, are also all set to win attractive prizes. The insurance industry is all agog with the prospect of the tournament, industry sources said. All companies have made arrangements to field their best talent, and some insurance industry cricketers are being seen as future national prospects in terms of building a national team of professional cricketing talent.

The Defending Bowl: Champions – Allianz Insurance, Runners up, Plate: Champions – SLIBA Stallions, Cup: Champions – Janashakthi General, and, Amana Takaful PLC, Softlogic Life Insurance PLC, Fairfirst Insurance Ltd., Ceylinco General Insurance Ltd. (General) Insurance, Ceylinco Life Insurance Ltd., Cooperative Insurance Company Ltd., HNB Assurance PLC, LOLC General Insurance Ltd., Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation Ltd. will be vying for the 2019 championship.