Kickstarting 2022 in true winning spirit, Sri Lanka’s fastest-growing life insurer
Softlogic Life Insurance PLC, garnered the topmost recognition at the CMA Excellence in Integrated
Reporting Awards 2021, clinching the Overall Gold Trophy for its Annual Report, themed ‘One Lankan’.
This milestone made Softlogic Life the youngest Sri Lankan company to be conferred with this
prestigious accolade.
Apart from the Overall Gold award, Softlogic Life won three other awards, including Best Integrated
Report – Insurance Sector, Special Award – Integrated Thinking and one of the five Excellent Integrated
Reports in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, Softlogic Life’s Chief Financial Officer Nuwan Withanage was
recognised with the CMA CFO Excellence’ Award that further celebrates all these achievements.
Organised by the Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka (CMA), the awards
ceremony was organised to promote both listed and unlisted Sri Lankan companies as well as state-
owned enterprises and small and medium enterprises to undertake integrated reporting, which is
beneficial to both investors and stakeholders.
The integrated reports are evaluated using guidelines applicable in the International <IR> Framework
issued in December 2013. The evaluation considers not only the accounting and financial information
but also the non-financial information provided in <IR>. Forty One companies had submitted
applications and were reviewed by a competent evaluation panel and an eminent panel of international
and local judges.
“The outstanding performance of Softlogic Life at the CMA Excellence in Integrated Reporting Awards
2021 stands testament to the firm commitment that we have made towards adhering to the highest
global standards of financial reporting. Our drive towards insisting on being the best in every aspect of
our business has taken us right to the top in our industry and it is indeed very satisfying to see how it
has also propelled the company to stand one step above other leading institutions in the country as
well” said Softlogic Holdings PLC Chairman Ashok Pathirage.
Commenting on Softlogic Life’s significant achievement, Managing Director Iftikar Ahamed said, “The
strong impacts of the pandemic on business models require a rethinking of reporting practices. In light of
these unprecedented times, the mere financial information does not allow one to adequately grasp the
impacts of COVID-19 on organisations and corporate management. In such a context, integrated
reporting provides a holistic view of business management and a correct representation of value
creation processes. Winning the Overall Gold Award, along with three key awards at this year’s CMA
Excellence Awards further validates the steps we have taken as an organisation to improve the way we
communicate with our key stakeholders to provide reliable and timely information on our performance
to obtain legitimacy in the new normal of doing business.”
“I would like to thank our Finance Team for their proactive drive to innovate and for taking the initiative
in preparing the Annual Report to meet such standards with impactful and enhanced financial reporting
practices. We are committed to continuing our efforts in adopting the highest integrated reporting
standards to produce informative financial reports in the future as well.” Ahamed further opined.
Softlogic Life Chief Financial Officer Nuwan Withanage said, “ The annual report continues to be one of
the most powerful communication tools that companies utilise to engage with stakeholders, particularly
as an insurance company dealing with public funds in this new digital world. It enables us to showcase
our operations in both financial and non-financial terms. Integrated reporting is all about communicating
the organisation’s strategy and its prospects, performances, and governance in a manner that connects
well to the diverse interests of our stakeholders. In this day and age, when businesses are shifting more
towards integrated reporting, it will enable companies to go for better reporting, tell our story better
and instil integrated thinking at every level of our businesses. We are indeed thrilled to have received
this award that places us at the pinnacle of our industry for our commitment to maintaining high-level
stakeholder management and guaranteeing good governance, transparency and accountability in financial
reporting.”
Softlogic Life’s Integrated Annual Report voluntarily embraces global benchmarks such as the
‘International <IR> Framework’ and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standard ‘Core’ options. This
is part of the company’s vision to share its journey of value creation with all its stakeholders by adopting
the Six Capital Reporting Framework, under the Integrated Reporting Framework.
Just this year, the company was thrust into the spotlight for being the first entity in Asia and Sri Lanka to
obtain external assurance on integrated reporting practices. Softlogic Life also went above and beyond
to innovate and deliver Sri Lanka’s first video annual report, in an attempt to effectively deliver their
progress and vision to stakeholders. Further, the company continues to leverage novel digital solutions
to achieve greater efficiency, speed, accuracy, and transparency to adopt to modern stakeholder
requirements moving at unprecedented speed. Owing to its recent work, the company recently took
home the Silver Award for Overall Excellence in Annual Financial Reporting at the CA Sri Lanka’s 56th
Annual Report Awards 2021 along with a number of more awards, beating some of Sri Lanka’s giant
conglomerates.
About Softlogic Life
Softlogic Life Insurance PLC is a subsidiary of Softlogic Capital PLC and is part of the Softlogic Group,
which is recognised as one of Sri Lanka’s most diversified and fastest-growing conglomerates with
interests in Healthcare, Retail, ICT, Leisure, Automobiles and Financial Services. Significant stakeholders
in the company include global investor Leapfrog Investments.
