Karin Zulkarnaen, chief customer and marketing officer at Prudential Indonesia, was raised to seek a challenge and explore new experiences without fear. Her father, a professional in the textile industry and an entrepreneur, and her stay-at-home mother always rewarded her for trying something out or starting a new project.

“That approach has shaped the person I am today,” says Zulkarnaen, who joined the life insurance industry in 2000 as a management trainee in Singapore.

Helping families

While the insurance industry was initially unfamiliar to her, Zulkarnaen quickly recognised it as one that helps families in difficult times. “I thought, ‘OK, this is really cool’,” she recalls.

Having experienced a variety of roles across sales, marketing and product during her trainee position in the United Kingdom, Zulkarnaen also observed that the industry in Jakarta was relatively young.

As the current life insurance market leader in Indonesia, Prudential is just 28 years old, and many of its 56 other competitors are much younger. Meanwhile, life insurance penetration is less than 1 per cent of gross domestic product. Financial literacy is just 49 per cent, with insurance literacy even lower.

Premium

You need to login to access this

Login

What are CIP Points? About ANZIIF Membership