View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2003/07/08/30454.htm
Edmund Tse, Senior Vice Chairman and Co-Chief Operating Officer of American International Group, and Clemente Cabello, CEO of Mexico’s Grupo Nacional have been named to the prestigious Insurance Hall of Fame by the International Insurance Society, Inc. They will be honored in New York City, July 15, at the annual IIS Seminar at the Waldorf Astoria.
Tse, who is also Chairman and CEO of AIA, the largest life insurer in Southeast Asia, began his career with AIG in Hong Kong in 1961. “Over the years he has promoted the development of insurance in the Asia region and played a key role in opening up China’s insurance business. He has promoted the status of Hong Kong as a leading international financial center,” said the bulletin. In addition to his work in Hong Kong he has built up AIG’s market share in Taiwan, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand and the Philippines, to the point where it now ranks as the leading insurer in many Asian markets.
“As a pioneer in exploring business potential in China, Mr. Tse introduced the agency concept and system in China,” said the bulletin. “In Hong Kong he has been instrumental in bringing together representatives of both the life and general insurance sectors into one insurance industry voice. He has been the longest serving member of the Insurance Advisory Committee to the Hong Kong Government, providing expertise and counsel to the government.”
The announcement described Cabello as “one of the most widely known and respected insurance executives in Mexico and throughout Latin America,” noting that he “began his work as a clerk in the actuarial department of Grupo Nacional Provincial, the company where he now serves as Chief Executive.”
The company is one of Mexico’s largest and most prestigious insurance enterprises, and “Cabello has gained a reputation for setting standards in the industry that are both imaginative and bold,” the announcement continued. “He has been a major innovator in product design and development for his country. He introduced the concept of universal life in Mexico; he introduced dividends to his company’s products; he was a major innovator in the field of health insurance; his concept of inflation proof insurance was applied to property insurance as well as to life insurance. He participated in a group of Mexican actuaries that gathered mortality experience in order to develop new mortality tables for the country. Under his leadership his company introduced the first insurer-owned clinics to enhance health services for customers.” He is recognized as a counselor on insurance concerns throughout Latin America.
The New York-based International Insurance Society operates the Insurance Hall of Fame, which was established in 1957 by the Griffith Foundation for Insurance Education, Columbus, Ohio. It later moved to The University of Alabama, where it was founded and developed by Dr. John Bickley, Emeritus Professor of Insurance of that institution.
The Hall will open a new digital gallery in New York in July, organized by the Society and the St. John’s University School of Risk Management. All laureates will be displayed in state-of the-art digital photography with biographies and audio-video materials.
“There are 108 laureates, including the two most recent, from nearly 20 countries who are honored,” said the announcement. “The qualifications for installation in the Hall of Fame include exceptional contributions to the advancement of insurance locally or globally and innovation in developing insurance benefits for the security and well being of society and individuals. Members are selected by the membership of the International Insurance Society in a secret ballot.”