The Microinsurance MBA Association of the Philippines, Inc. (MiMAP) members scored higher than the entire insurance industry in last year’s ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard (ACGS) reporting. The ACGS is an annual compliance requirement of the Insurance Commission aimed to raise corporate governance standards and practices of ASEAN companies.
Of the highest possible score of 128, the members accumulated an average score of 33.37 compared to the 32.33 of the insurance industry. It is reported that within the Association, majority of the total scores were between 33 and 37.
Among all the members of the Association, the QPI MBA scored the highest at 44.47. Meanwhile, all members also performed well in grading the Responsibilities of the Board (Part E of the Scorecard). This is credited to the annual workshops given by the Association to its members and partners.
On March 28, 2016, MiMAP organized a learning session led by Robert Bascon of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) for its members and partners to evaluate the scores in 2015. According to Lee Malapad, MiMAP Training and Consultancy Officer, this workshop was designed to identify the performance gaps of the members. “They were able to clarify some points that they thought they should have scored well but not”, Malapad added.
During the open forum, an agreement among MBAs to comply with all the requirements was made.
It was found that ACGS lacks details in terms of the structure that fit the framework used by MBAs in its operations.
MiMAP attends ICD organized ACGS Workshop
On April 5, 2016, the ICD organized a workshop to discuss ACGS and share tips and best practices the participants may adapt in their respective associations.
Helen De Guzman, Vice President of the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO), discussed the benchmarks used for and the rationale of the scorecard. In light of the low penetration rate of insurance products within the ASEAN Region, customer turnover remains too high due to unfair “lock-ins” and non-transparency. The ACGS responds to these concerns by raising corporate governance standards and practices of ASEAN companies and enhance the visibility as well as the investor appeal of companies.
De Guzman enumerated all circulars instructing Mutual Benefit Associations (MBAs) to develop websites and include documents supporting ACGS responses with corresponding links. With her presentation, she also encouraged the MBAs to answer questions truthfully supported with corresponding disclosure statements and active links.
Scoring high in 2015 ACGS, MiMAP was commended for the practice of good governance standards among its members. Malapad and Rachelle Rivas, MiMAP Project Officer, attended the said workshop with other member MBAs.