FWD, INSEAD forge partnership to groom digital savvy sales leaders

FWD Group has launched the Elite Agency at INSEAD Program, an industry-first platform for top agency leaders to transform the insurer’s next-generation sales force in a digitally-connected world.

This multi-year partnership covers six-month intensive leadership and executive training program for top agency leaders in the Philippines and across the Asia region.

The program is part of FWD’s broader vision to build the most trusted, professional, productive, and digitally-enabled insurance advisory team in Asia, the company said on Tuesday. “It aims to develop 100 world-class agency leaders that will lead and transform the way insurance sales is conducted, and ultimately support FWD’s wider vision to change the way people feel about insurance.”

The program’s inaugural class comprises five top agency leaders from the FWD markets in the Philippines, Hong Kong and Macau, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

Representing FWD Philippines in the FWD Elite Signature program are five multi-awarded agency leaders from all over the country. They are Aquarius Juson (SGA), Ed Dante Latonio (Carmel-Cebu), Jecelle Ramos (Fuji), Purita Tane (Carmel-Manila), and Marion Victoriano (Rainbow). They were chosen for their business performance as well as leadership potential, desire to grow and learn, and ability to engage and operate in the digital world.

The residency program starts on August 19 this year at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.

“This program is a game-changer for agency distribution and will elevate the professionalism of not just our agency but the whole industry,” said Binayak Dutta, FWD’s Group chief distribution officer and managing director, Emerging Markets.

“This program underscores FWD’s commitment to our talented sales force and we wish the Philippine team who will be taking part in this program all the very best,” said FWD Philippines president and CEO Peter Grimes.

The program is designed so that participants can learn how to create breakthrough plans and strategies to take a business to the next level, and enhancing leadership capabilities covering the self and others, said V. Padmanabhan, Unilever chaired professor of Marketing, INSEAD. —VDS, GMA News