David Curmi has his father to thank for his choice of – very successful – career. Back in 1980, when David was considering what steps to take into the world of work, his father had the foresight to suggest that he should consider going into an ‘emerging sector’.

“The insurance industry barely existed back then,” he reminisces. “Today, though, it has grown to become an important contributor to Malta’s economy. I have absolutely no regrets.”

Like many CEOs, David joined the sector as a young trainee and worked his way up the ladder.

Looking back on his landmark moments, he highlights being appointed CEO of Middlesea Valletta Life Assurance Co Ltd in 2007, as well as being unanimously elected president of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Enterprise in 2013.

“I am also proud that, today MAPFRE MSV Life plc is one of Malta’s largest companies,” he says, adding that it is jointly owned by MAPFRE Middlesea plc and Bank of Valletta plc, and forms part of the MAPFRE Group of Spain. “I have witnessed our company grow from a relatively small life insurance company to the largest provider of life protection, long-term savings and retirement solutions in Malta, with a balance sheet in excess of €2.5 billion.

“I attribute a very large part of this development to the wisdom of our shareholders. We believe that doing the right thing will ultimately lead to growth, and have always moved the conversation from price to service while underpinning all that with our aspiration for excellence in everything that we do. Where we are today is clearly the product of that strategy.”

Elaborating on that approach, David says that – for him – so much comes down to talent. “As CEO, my most important role is to manage talent,” he stresses. “The best use of my time is spent bringing unbelievable people together, managing them well, and making sure I always have the best team around me.”

In fact, when chatting about the organisation’s broader success, David believes that this was achieved through the efforts of his enthusiastic and dedicated workforce and sales force – most notably when they went into a winning partnership with Bank of Valletta.

“Beyond that, though, ever since our establishment in 1994, we have witnessed a consistently strong demand for our products and services,” he says. “In life insurance, strong capitalisation is necessary to support business growth.

“However, we do feel that our strength in the market isn’t just derived from our strong financial credentials but from the very responsible manner in which we manage and conduct our business. The very nature of our business requires the highest possible standards of professional and ethical conduct, and that is such a clear cornerstone for us in everything that we do.”

In fact, David outlines that one of the company’s most important strategic objectives moving forward lies in earning the lifetime trust of its customers.

“Our average client relationship is between 15 and 20 years long, and over 60 per cent of the monies that we pay out under policies that mature are given back to us for reinvestment. By listening and responding effectively to what we hear from our customers, we gain the trust we need to achieve this sort of success.”

There have been shifts in the overall market, too. Locally speaking, the life insurance sector has grown considerably in the last five years as more people have chosen insurance-based savings products that put money aside for their medium- to longterm requirements.

And, although there are only five providers of life protection and savings products in Malta, the total investments and mathematical provisions held by these companies have exceeded the €3 billion mark, while gross life premiums have exceeded €410 million annually. “I don’t think that growth is going away,” David continues.

Nevertheless, there are concerns to be had. For David, these mostly relate to the low interest rate environment and the increased regulation. “The low interest rate environment is set to continue, and this will have significant ramifications for life insurance companies, as the returns paid to policyholders depend primarily on the investment return earned by the insurance companies. The cost and distraction of regulatory change are likely to slow down the transformation of insurance companies.

“Beyond that, regulators and supervisors are not always sensitive to the need to align with the challenges and changes that the sector has to face in technological developments, as well as to the evolution of demand, habits and behaviour of consumers,” he says.

Of course, another challenge lies in the simple fact that it isn’t easy to encourage people to think very far ahead, while getting them to think about their retirement needs is even harder. “Many young – and not so young – people believe that pensions are something to think about in later life, so they postpone pension-related decisions for as long as possible,” he says.

“Thus, I certainly think that information about the pension system needs to be commensurate with the people’s abilities and needs. It must be as easy as possible for individuals to access long-term savings products to fund their retirement.”

With that in mind, Mr Curmi has positioned digital transformation as one of the company’s key strategic objectives for 2020 and beyond – and it is working. In 2019, its app SavviSave won the Best App award at the MCA eBusiness Awards. It is the company’s 100 per cent digital savings product, developed jointly with Munich Re and it allows customers to save towards their own personal goals in a simplified and gamified way, all through a mobile app.

“Also, this year we partnered with the Sapiens International Corporation to replace our legacy systems with the Sapiens Core Suite for Life and Pensions,” David continues. “This significant investment will enable us to transform our business and to migrate to the latest technology in our sector.”

Sustainability is also set to be a core focus – and is something that David says is in the very DNA of the MAPFRE Group. “For over 13 consecutive years, the MAPFRE Group has been part of the FTSE4Good index, one of the most important international barometers for measuring the performance of companies in terms of sustainability,” he says.

“Then, at a local level, we are currently considering how best to integrate ESG criteria into our investment strategy.”

Finally, with 2020 very much in focus, David says he is turning his attention on ensuring MAPFRE MSV Life plc becomes the leading provider of Voluntary Occupational Pension Schemes in Malta, now that it has successfully launched its MMSV WorkSave Pension Scheme. “This is a new and important line of business for us that will see us establishing important business relationships with corporate clients and new savers.

“I think the next five years, at least, will continue to bring significant growth to the market overall,” he concludes.

Whoswho.mt is proud to be serialising MaltaCEOs 2020, a high-profile publication consisting of 50 in-depth interviews with leading CEOs in Malta.