About

“Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together. James Cash Penney”

The life insurance industry in India has a long history dating back to pre-independence era. The fascinating growth story for the Indian life insurance industry has seen giant strides, first post nationalization in 1956 and later since the opening up of the Life Insurance Market to private players in the year 2000.

Underwriting as a function has been in existence as long as the insurance industry itself and is a key contributor to the success of the industry. During the initial years of the industry in India, there was hardly any organized approach or specific focus towards uplifting of underwriting as a profession.

“A thousand mile journey begins with the first step”  ~ Anonymous

AIU was initially set up in 2006 as a discussion group and the Founder Members felt the need of a similar forum to reach out to the vast Indian Underwriting fraternity where so many enthusiastic professionals were looking for an opening such as AIU to communicate and express to peers.

It  is the result of collective and consistent efforts of a group of underwriting professionals from various Life Insurance & Reinsurance companies operating in India. The primary objective of AIU is to popularize the art and science of underwriting as a profession in India, wherein more and more underwriters across all levels of expertise, will get trained and get an exposure to a world view.

Over time, AIU Founder Members believe that educational up-gradation of underwriters will help guide more companies and business partners to follow the prudent way of doing  Insurance business in India, resulting in sustained mortality profits for promoters. AIU is dedicated to the cause of an underwriting aspirant meet his/her long-term aspiration and professional goals by providing them the requisite platform to discover new developments in science and engage in active knowledge sharing with underwriters and risk management professionals from within India and abroad.

With a focus on building extensive, diverse network of experience and resources for underwriters, AIU is committed to enriching our industry and our underwriting community by actively engaging in sharing knowledge and enhancing their business and professional skills. This has been achieved by a series of efforts by AIU.
 
To begin with, AIU organized the first “Know Your Life (KYL)” seminar in 2007, supported by all the major reinsurers and some partners. The success of the two day event encouraged AIU to conduct the seminar the following year, with even greater participation. Since then there has been no looking back and KYL has become a signature event for AIU till date, each year with a different themes to address the increasing needs of technology and innovations in risk assessment process and product development etc. Renowned speakers from various fields related to insurance share their rich knowledge, experience and expertise in these seminars. AIU is supported by all life insurance companies and is acknowledged by industry forums as an active and participative association committed to professional development of underwriters across all levels. Every KYL seminar has been attended by over 200 delegates from across the country and the count of delegates is increasing.

AIU also conducted informative workshops including one at Gurgaon, thereby ensuring participation of underwriters from locations outside Mumbai. The webinars conducted by AIU providing advanced training also garnered huge participation from the underwriting community across various locations in India in real time.

Our future growth relies on competitiveness and innovation, skills and productivity... and these in turn rely on the education of our people…. Julia Gillard

To build competency in the field of Life Underwriting and provide qualified underwriters to the industry, AIU in collaboration with the Academy of Life Underwriting (ALU) and Insurance Institute of India (III) helped develop Underwriting Diploma Course in the year 2013.  The dedicated efforts by the Syllabus Committee members with the support of III saw the launch of the “Diploma in Life Underwriting” and the “Advanced Diploma in Life Underwriting” in 2014. It was a landmark achievement for both AIU and III and the number of takers of the course is increasing year on year. Detailed information on the Diploma is made available on our website.

“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” ~Henry Ford

To bring dynamism and fresh blood into the Association, AIU has changed office bearers twice since inception and also inducted more members in its Executive Committee.

AIU does not certainly intend to limit itself as a medium of training but also aims at working in the larger interest of underwriting profession and Insurance industry. AIU encourages group discussions on current topics and sharing of views on emerging issues and has taken up worthy causes with other forums from time to time.

AIU has upgraded its website to introduce the entire initiatives taken and delivered thus far, share the content of the previous KYL seminars and provide links to websites used by underwriters for reference and information.

AIU founders believe that the risk managers of tomorrow must possess a conscience that promotes critical thinking and ignite a progressive approach towards long term risk management ensuring that not only the underwriting profession, but also the company, the industry, the economy and the country as a whole shines always!

“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” ~Henry Ford