What does it take to make it in the insurance industry? Just ask CEO of Tahoe Life Allan Yu, ACII, Chartered Insurer, who has 50 years’ experience working across all divisions of the insurance world. Appointed CEO this January with a remit to drive further growth through multiple distribution channels and capitalise on the opportunities in the Greater Bay Area, this industry veteran is passionate about priming the younger generation for a career in his industry. He is currently chairman of the Insurance Training Board under the Vocational Training Council and also chairs the Insurance Industry Training Advisory Committee, Qualifications Framework. Despite such weighty commitments, Yu additionally acts as honorary secretary of the Insurance Complaints Bureau.
Describing himself as an ambitious self-starter unafraid of hard work, Yu did plenty of background reading early on to give himself a head start in the business. He was keen to enhance his industrial knowledge given that there are various light industries involved in property insurance when he began working in this area in the 1970s. “I was very interested in geography, but also had a growing passion to inspect various industrial buildings and estates,” he recalls.
Yu’s insurance career began by assessing the risks of corporate clients across various light industries. “When I started out in the 1970s, there were lots of accidents caused by fire, and I needed to inspect and assess the risk of the property insured, then risk survey the property,” he recalls of his early role.
After working alongside underwriters to get a feel for the job, Yu was promoted to property insurance underwriter, widening his knowledge of claims reporting and pricing assessments. He built up sound relationships with reinsurers and was quickly promoted to more senior roles. The CEO clocked up plenty of sales experience, with a decade spent in the brokerage business mostly in general insurance, plus some work in life and group medical insurance.
In recognition of his budding leadership skills, Yu received sponsorship to study on the management programme at INSEAD Business School in Paris, which is consistently ranked among the world’s top business institutions.
Describing himself as fully committed to his work, the CEO has held a host of impressive roles within the insurance world. From 2010-2011, he was chairman of Hong Kong Federation of Insurers while from 2007-2016, he was director at the Employees’ Compensation Insurance Residual Scheme Bureau. From 2011-2016, he also chaired the Task Force on the Independence of the Insurance Authority. He admits that such dedication has involved making some sacrifices, with family and leisure time taking a knock as he strived to carry out roles to the best of his abilities.
Yu describes his approach to leadership as democratic and open-minded. Taking a distinctly autonomous approach, he likes to communicate with staff by candidly exchanging views. The CEO sees himself as approachable, and someone who won’t override colleagues’ opinions. “I take more of a coaching style to management instead of giving rigid instructions,” he says.
How has he become the manager he is today? Part of it is down to reading and having a great interest in historical leaders. “I learned about the rise and fall of the emperors throughout history, and the reasons for their failure. Analysing their successes and failures has helped me learn how to best avoid repeat failures in the future,” he says.
In terms of major turning points in his career, Yu says being involved in risk assessment, underwriting, pricing, reinsurance and claims when he started out gave him a comprehensive oversight of the industry that stood him in good stead later on. With five decades’ worth of experience, he believes himself most competent in the field of general insurance, and he can apply those experience to his current senior role in life insurance.
The CEO advises those starting out in their own career to hone their time management skills and carve out some time to study to stay up-to-date in the latest advances across the insurance industry. He also advocates a methodical approach, underlining the importance of weighing up the pros and cons before arriving at a final decision. The best leaders should also know how to be persistent in the face of hardship and difficulties, he elaborates.
Yu is keen to persuade more fresh graduates to consider the insurance industry as a long-term career, stressing that it’s a very professional and stable business. “We are able to provide opportunities to youngsters to develop lifelong business skills through training, examinations, corporate guidance and so on,” he says.
The CEO’s commitments outside of his new role include the Hong Kong Air Cadet Corps: he has been honorary squadron leader and honorary commander since 2004. In this role, Yu perfects his mentoring skills by encouraging development of the younger generation in leadership, communication, self-discipline, survival and crowd control alongside the principles of aviation. “I enjoy nurturing future aviation talents and have sponsored members to take part in the overseas aviation programme since 2006, so cadets and officer trainees can access that all-important first-time flying experience,” he says.
Keen to enrich and support community life, Yu has also been an active member of the Hong Kong Lions Club, acting as chairman, director and second vice president in the past. “We re-built 13 primary schools in Anhui, Sichuan, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guizhou and Gansu… it’s very meaningful to nurture the future and help the children who live in rural mountainous areas in the mainland,” he says.
Caring and committed CEO’s like Yu are vital to upholding the insurance industry as a rewarding career to younger generations.
