Union Assurance

Union Assurance PLC
TypePublic
CSE: UAL.N0000
ISINLK0179N00008
IndustryInsurance
FoundedJanuary 8, 1987; 39 years ago (1987-01-08)
Headquarters
Colombo
,
Sri Lanka
Number of locations
85 (2023)
Key people
RevenueIncrease LKR29.958 billion (2023)
Increase LKR4.944 billion (2023)
Increase LKR3.758 billion (2023)
AUMIncrease LKR83.420 billion (2023)
Total assetsIncrease LKR95.670 billion (2023)
Total equityDecrease LKR24.161 billion (2023)
Number of employees
Decrease 780 (2023)
ParentJohn Keells Holdings
Websiteunionassurance.com
Footnotes

Union Assurance PLC is an insurance company in Sri Lanka. Union Assurance was founded in 1987 and was listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange in the following year. In 2009, John Keells Holdings acquired a controlling stake in the company. The company divested its general insurance business to Fairfirst Insurance and focused on life insurance in 2015. The company was a constituent of Forbes Asia's Best Under a Billion list in 2018. Union Assurance is one of the LMD 100 companies in Sri Lanka. The company is also one of the 100 most valuable brands in Sri Lanka.

History

Union Assurance was founded in 1987 by Aitken Spence, Carson Cumberbatch, Mercantile Credit and Whittall Boustead. The company commenced operations and was listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange in the following year. Union Assurance entered the market when the Government of Sri Lanka ended the government monopoly of the insurance sector with the enactment of the Control of Insurance Act No. 42 of 1986. Sri Lankan conglomerate John Keells Holdings acquired 81% shares in Union Assurance in 2009 thus giving them control of the company.

Union Assurance divided its life and non-life businesses in 2015, and divested its stake in the non-life insurance business to Fairfirst Insurance. Union Assurance held 8.7% of insurance sector assets in 2016, making them the fourth biggest player behind Sri Lanka Insurance, Ceylinco Insurance and AIA Insurance. In 2018, Union Assurance was included in Forbes Asia's Best Under a Billion list. The company was the only Sri Lankan company on the list that year. The company introduced its new logo in 2020, which emphasises the company's repositioning in the life insurance sector.

Operations

In 2014, Union Assurance held 8.7% of total insurance sector assets in Sri Lanka, the fourth largest share behind Sri Lanka Insurance, Ceylinco Insurance and AIA Insurance.[30] In 2018, it was included in Forbes Asia's Best Under a Billion list, the only Sri Lankan company on the list that year.[27]

Union Assurance is ranked in the LMD 100, an annual list of publicly traded companies in Sri Lanka ranked by revenue.[28] By 2023, it had been named among the 100 Most Valuable Consumer Brands in Sri Lanka by LMD and Brand Finance for 15 consecutive years,[31] and in 2025 it was placed within the top 50 of Brand Finance's ranking of Sri Lanka's most valuable brands.[32] It has also been ranked among the top three most loved life insurance brands in Sri Lanka by LMD and Brand Finance.[33]

In 2020, Union Assurance launched a new brand identity, with a logo depicting the "circle of life" and the tagline Your Life, Our Strength.[3][34] The company described the rebrand as repositioning it as a customer-centric, digital life insurer,[34] and said it was the first insurer in Sri Lanka to adopt a fully digital, paperless policy submission process.[34] In December 2020, it launched Clicklife, a product allowing customers to buy life insurance online without paperwork or medical reports.[18]

Union Assurance distributes life insurance through bancassurance partnerships with five banks in Sri Lanka.[2][12][13][14][15][16]

Jude Gomes, previously chief executive officer and president of Manulife China Bank Life Assurance Corporation in the Philippines, became chief executive officer in December 2019.[35] He was succeeded by Senath Jayatilake, formerly the company's deputy chief executive, in January 2024.[36]

Union Assurance received awards at the Women Friendly Workplace Awards in 2022 and 2024.[37][38]

Union Assurance Branch Network

As of 31 December 2025, Union Assurance operates a network of 95 branches across Sri Lanka, covering all nine provinces of the island. The branches are supported by a field agency force of 2,698 agents and are complemented by five bancassurance partnerships and digital channels including the Clicklife mobile application.

Finances

Financial summary
Financial figures are in LKR (mns)
YearGWPProfitAssetsEquityEmployees
202318,8673,75895,67024,161780
202216,6752,74775,96914,214798
202115,4062,05470,76215,455770
202013,10992162,60015,108795
201911,6481,15855,24914,663764
201811,2443,24449,11713,672614
201710,1187,38443,06711,965529
20168,2711,31335,6933,867474
20156,9652,34731,0143,465450
20145,94588135,6046,211445

Source: Annual Report, 2023 (pp. 300–301)

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Union Assurance unveils powerful new identity". Daily FT. Wijeya Newspapers. 18 March 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 "Annual Report 2023" (PDF). cse.lk. Union Assurance PLC. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  3. ↑ Sharma, K. (2006). "Summary, Findings, Conclusions & Policy Implications" (PDF). University of Moratuwa. p. 76. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  4. ↑ "Fairfax set to transform general insurance landscape in Sri Lanka". Daily FT. Wijeya Newspapers. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  5. ↑ The Report: Sri Lanka. Oxford Business Group. 12 May 2016. p. 93. ISBN 978-1-910068-59-5. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  6. ↑ "Union Assurance". Forbes. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  7. ↑ "Union Assurance only Lankan firm to make it to Forbes 'Best Under Billion' List in 2018". Daily FT. Wijeya Newspapers. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  8. 1 2