As life insurance evolves from a traditional protection product into a broader instrument of financial resilience, leadership must increasingly focus on accessibility, relevance and long-term customer value. At LOLC Life Assurance, Dr. Chandana L. Aluthgama brings a strategic perspective centred on extending protection to underserved segments, leveraging the wider LOLC ecosystem and embracing technology without weakening the human relationships fundamental to insurance. His approach reflects a broader ambition to strengthen financial preparedness across Sri Lanka while building an organisation capable of responding to changing customer expectations.
In this interview, he discusses how LOLC Life is shaping a more inclusive, resilient future.
Dr. Aluthgama is a distinguished insurance leader with over 34 years of transformational leadership experience. Former Group CEO of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation. He serves on the boards of LOLC Life and General Insurance. A recipient of the 2024 Global CEO Award and Immediate Past President of IASL. And lectures at the University of Colombo.
1. Taking Life Insurance Beyond Traditional Boundaries
LOLC has built an extensive presence across Sri Lanka and serves customers from many different economic and social backgrounds. How is LOLC Life Assurance using this reach to take life insurance beyond traditional customer segments and make meaningful financial protection accessible to more Sri Lankan families?
We believe life insurance should not be limited to traditional customer segments or viewed simply as a product for those who already understand insurance. It should be accessible to people across different stages of life, communities and income levels. At its core, life insurance is about building financial resilience, independence and peace of mind, enabling individuals and families to pursue their aspirations even when life takes an unexpected turn.
Sri Lanka remains a significantly underpenetrated life insurance market. We see this as an opportunity not merely to compete for existing customers, but to expand the market by reaching new segments, diverse communities and micro-markets. Our solutions address a range of needs across life stages, from family and child protection to healthcare, critical illness, retirement and long-term financial security.
The strength and reach of the LOLC ecosystem give us a distinctive advantage. Our presence across diverse customer segments and markets provides valuable insights into evolving financial needs and protection gaps, enabling us to develop solutions that are more relevant, accessible and responsive.
Importantly, this includes serving communities with specific cultural and financial requirements. Through our Takaful offerings, we extend meaningful life protection to communities that value ethical solutions, mutual support, and shared responsibility. Our focus on micro-markets also helps us reach customers beyond conventional insurance segments and bring protection closer to communities that may otherwise remain underserved.
Ultimately, taking life insurance beyond traditional boundaries is about understanding the realities of people’s lives and making protection relevant to their evolving needs and aspirations.
2. The Power of the LOLC Ecosystem
LOLC Life operates within one of Sri Lanka’s most diversified financial and business groups, with an expanding international footprint. How does being part of the wider LOLC ecosystem strengthen your ability to understand customers, innovate, expand protection and create long-term value that a standalone life insurer may find difficult to replicate?
Being part of the LOLC Group gives us a distinctive strategic advantage, but the real value lies in how we translate the strength of the ecosystem into better outcomes for customers and long-term value for stakeholders.
LOLC Life has built its own brand, specialist capabilities and customer relationships, supported by the strength, credibility and reach of the wider LOLC Group. The Group’s diversified presence across financial services, businesses and international markets gives us a broader understanding of customers, their income, businesses, health, housing, savings and family aspirations. This enables us to understand protection needs beyond the traditional boundaries of life insurance.
The ecosystem also allows us to leverage Group expertise, technology, partnerships, market insights and distribution capabilities. These strengths help us identify emerging needs, innovate more effectively and extend protection to wider customer segments. Our international footprint further provides exposure to different markets, business models and evolving customer expectations, bringing broader perspectives to our thinking.
However, scale alone does not create value. It must be complemented by the specialist expertise, professionalism, governance and customer-centricity of LOLC Life. Our responsibility is to translate the opportunities created by the ecosystem into solutions and experiences that genuinely benefit our customers.
Ultimately, the power of the LOLC ecosystem lies in the combination of breadth and depth: the scale, diversity and reach of the Group together with the specialised capabilities of LOLC Life. This provides a strong platform to expand protection, innovate with purpose and build lasting customer relationships.
3. Technology Without Losing the Human Touch
Digitalisation, data and AI are rapidly changing the way insurers understand risk and engage with customers. How is LOLC Life using technology to make life insurance simpler, faster and more personalised while preserving the human relationships and trust that remain fundamental to life insurance?
Technology is reshaping how customers access, understand and engage with financial services, and life insurance must evolve accordingly. Yet, at its core, life insurance remains a trust-based business. Customers value convenience and speed, but when making decisions about their family’s future, they also need clarity, professional judgement and reassurance. Our approach is therefore to use technology to strengthen human relationships, not replace them.
We are using digitalisation to simplify the customer journey and make essential services more convenient and accessible. Our LOLC Insurance OneClick platform provides convenient access to policy information, premium payments, service requests, claims notifications and other services. Digital payment solutions such as QR Pay and Pay Link further make it easier for customers to maintain their policies and engage with us.
The wider LOLC ecosystem gives us access to technology expertise and capabilities, helping us strengthen our digital platforms and accelerate innovation while retaining the specialist knowledge and customer focus of LOLC Life.
Looking ahead, we see significant opportunities to use data analytics and AI more intelligently across the customer and insurance journey. This includes understanding customer needs, identifying protection gaps, strengthening risk assessment and underwriting, and enabling more personalised engagement. AI can also simplify complex insurance information and automate repetitive processes, allowing our people to focus on professional judgement, empathy and meaningful customer relationships.
Technology should ultimately make insurance simpler, faster, clearer and more valuable. Our ambition is not simply to become a digital insurer, but a smarter and more accessible insurer that uses technology to simplify insurance while strengthening the trust, empathy and human connection at the heart of every customer relationship we build.
4. Closing Sri Lanka’s Protection Gap
Despite the progress made by the industry, many Sri Lankan families remain inadequately protected against death, illness, disability and the financial uncertainties of retirement. Where do you see the most significant protection gaps today, and what is LOLC Life doing differently to help build a more financially resilient Sri Lanka?
I believe one of Sri Lanka’s most significant protection challenges is not simply the availability of insurance, but the level of financial awareness and preparedness among individuals and families. Many people tend to think about protection only when faced with illness, financial pressure or a major life event, when the opportunity to prepare proactively may already be limited.
Our social fabric places a strong emphasis on support from family, relatives and close friends, and many naturally turn to this support when unexpected events occur. While this remains an important strength of our society, we also believe individuals need to build the financial capacity to manage life’s uncertainties with greater independence. Insurance has an important role to play in enabling this, by providing financial support when families need it most and reducing the burden on those around them.
The protection gap extends beyond life cover to health and critical illness, disability, children’s education, long-term financial security and retirement. Even where individuals have insurance or employer-provided medical coverage, it may not always be adequate to meet the financial impact of serious illness, disability or rising healthcare costs. This highlights the importance of regularly assessing whether the protection people have truly reflects their needs.
We also see an opportunity to engage younger generations by connecting financial protection with their aspirations, careers, health, families and desire for greater financial freedom. Technology can make information and services more accessible and personalised, while our people remain central to building understanding and trust.
Ultimately, closing Sri Lanka’s protection gap requires a shift in how we view insurance, from something we turn to when life takes an unexpected turn, to something that helps us prepare for what lies ahead. At LOLC Life, our purpose is to help individuals and families build the financial resilience to protect what matters, pursue their aspirations and face the future with greater confidence. This is how we hope to earn a place not only as an insurer, but as a trusted lifelong friend, standing alongside our customers through every stage of life.
Jayantha Kalinga
Chief Operating Officer, LOLC Life Assurance Ltd.
5. Protecting a Family’s Tomorrow
Life insurance is ultimately a promise about the future, often fulfilled when a family is going through one of its most difficult moments. How does LOLC Life ensure that this promise goes beyond paying a claim to providing genuine financial security, dignity and continuity for the families it protects?
At LOLC Life, we believe our responsibility extends beyond paying a claim. It is about helping individuals and families build financial resilience, prepare for uncertainty and protect the aspirations they are working to achieve, while supporting their journey towards greater financial independence.
This is reflected in our focus on living benefits, ensuring that life insurance provides meaningful value during the customer’s lifetime, not only when a claim arises. Whether supporting a child’s education, addressing unexpected health or critical illness expenses, building financial security or preparing for a dignified retirement, we seek to provide protection that remains relevant through different stages of life.
Delivering on this promise requires both human expertise and accessibility. Our capable and professional sales force, supported by teams with sound technical knowledge and operational expertise, enables us to understand individual needs and provide appropriate guidance and solutions. With more than 86 branches across Sri Lanka, supported by digital capabilities, we remain accessible while making policy servicing more convenient and efficient. Continuous communication also helps customers understand and maximise the value of their protection.
When a claim arises, our priority is to make the experience as simple, transparent and timely as possible. We combine experienced people and robust processes to minimise inconvenience and facilitate the prompt and fair settlement of genuine claims, with empathy and care.
Ultimately, we aspire to be more than an insurer. This is how we hope to build lasting trust and earn our place as the most friendly insurer, standing alongside our customers through every life moment.
