Enaya AIG Takaful sponsors 2nd International Takaful Awards

The seventeen awards were announced by Mr Mohaned Abdullah, Chairman of the Middle East Business Forum and presented by Ayman Al Ajmi, the general Manager of Enaya AIG Takaful who sponsored the awards and Lord Sheikh.

Winners of the awards were drawn from a pool of nominees by a panel of expert judges, including, Journalists, Lawyers and Takaful practitioners from top corporations.

The awards event is now in its second year, after enjoying great success as a pioneering event last year. No such awards ceremony exists, as takaful is greatly unrepresented as an industry in its own right.

"The success of last year's awards and the great turnout convinced me that the takaful market was in great need of representation and appreciation. The takaful industry has actually grown in this time of recession, which is a testament to the great work of the men and women in the industry,"

commented Mohaned Abdullah of the Middle East Business Forum.

Every category in this ceremony was meant to celebrate the various unique points surrounding takaful.

Mr Ayman Al Ajmi, spoke of how such awards encourage healthy competition, driving companies to work towards certain goals. He handed the Best Takaful award to Dr Saleh Malaikah of Salama insurance; the same award, he so graciously accepted the preceding year.

The recipient of the Best Re-Takaful award was Takaful Re; Best New Retakaful went to Al-Fajer Re; Best Reinsurance to Hannover Retakaful; followed by NCB Capital, which was the beneficiary of the Best Asset Management House award.

Norton Rose picked up the award for Best Law Firm for a second time in a row, particularly pleased at this achievement; followed by Standard & Poor's which benefited from the Best Ratings Company award, also for a second time. The award for Best Advisory Company was granted to Ernst & Young. The award for Best Brokerage Firm was presented to AON and the Best Islamic Fund to CIMB-Principal Asset Management.

Awards for Best Product and Marketing were both accepted by SABB Takaful, a company considered necessary for acknowledgment in both categories due to their diligent hard work over the last year.

Phillip Head of SABB, whilst accepting the award, modestly commented that, "Awards are a good indication of the hard work being put in by this industry."

3i Infotech won the award for Best Technology as last year. Etiqa, which was the recipient of the Best Marketing award last year, received the award for Best Bancatakaful this year; accepting the award on behalf of their team and Malaysia.

The Central Bank of Bahrain appreciatively accepted the award for Best Financial Centre. The Outstanding Contribution award saw the return of Dr. Saleh Malaikah of Salama Takaful, who seemed humbled whilst accepting the award from Ayman Al Ajmi and Lord Sheikh.

The Awards ceremony was a true testament to the hard work and varied mix of companies and individuals who have inducted Islamic Insurance into mainstream finance. Hardeep Tamana of Fyshe Crestar, a regular attendee and sponsor of these conferences commented that, "This awards ceremony has inspired me to put our company in the race to win the award for Best Asset Management Company next year."