Marsh’s Tony Lee to serve as ANZIIF Hong Kong ambassador

Tony Lee, ANZIIF (Fellow) CIP is very proud to represent and champion the ANZIIF brand having recently been appointed the organisation's Ambassador to Hong Kong.

“ANZIIF is a respected global education institute and I see my responsibility as actively promoting insurance education to practitioners in Hong Kong and China," says Lee, who is Chief Agency Leader and Director of Marsh & McLennan Insurance Services Limited. 

"This will enhance professional qualifications and knowledge in the region overall.” 

Partnering with industry

Lee, who has been working towards this goal informally for many years, aims to continue effective strategies including partnering with tertiary education institutes, universities, professional training bodies and councils.  

“We also work with different trade associations such as the Hong Kong Federation of Insurers, the Professional Insurance Broker Association and the Confederation Insurance Brokers Association,” he says.

“Useful collaborative efforts include providing tailor-made courses with different insurance companies and organisations, as well as attending events to promote and encourage ANZIIF qualifications.”

Demonstrating value to the public

For Lee, it’s critical that insurance practitioners can demonstrate the value of insurance products to an increasingly cynical and untrusting public. He says ANZIIF qualifications are the key to facilitating this kind of transformation. 

Like Australia and New Zealand, the Hong Kong insurance market is very mature. Lee says key issues include “keen competition in a slow economy”.
 
“There are many different challenges in the insurance market, for example, the rise in natural disasters and environmental issues has led to a consistent growth in property insurance premiums,” he says.

“In the last few years, due to the weather, SMEs and even big corporations have been impacted. As an insurance intermediary, it’s quite difficult to keep existing premiums. If the premium goes down, so does the sum insured.”

On the bright side, new research, new technology and new products continue to help insurers protect the interests of existing customers and generate more business.

Strong work ethic

Born and educated in Hong Kong, Tony Lee started his insurance industry career thanks to the work ethic instilled in him by his parents, who ran an importing and exporting business in mainland China.

As a management trainee assigned to HSBC Hong Kong’s insurance department in 1998, Lee quickly came to realise the value of insurance principles.

“Although I knew nothing about insurance when I started, the importance of insurance contracts quickly became evident because of how very helpful they are to people,” Lee recalls. 

“I worked hard to learn all the wording and terms and conditions that are critical to insurance products and was fortunate to experience a wide range of segments including general insurance and employee benefits.”

Over his more than 25-year career, Lee has worked with insurance providers as an underwriter, international and local broker, and an intermediary in Hong Kong, Macau and Beijing. He specialises in strategic management, risk underwriting, insurance broking, enterprise safety management and employee benefits consulting. 

At Marsh, he is responsible for managing the Marsh Agency business in Hong Kong. 

Strong commitment to learning

Lee joined ANZIIF about 20 years ago, although the not-for-profit insurance learning organisation is so much a part of his DNA, that he’s not exactly sure of the date.

He does remember that at the time, he was working with Aon and was assigned to a job in Melbourne while studying part-time for an MBA at Charles Sturt University. 

“I started to engage with ANZIIF during my study after attending an insurance and finance seminar where I discovered ANZIIF would be collaborating with corporations in Hong Kong,” he says.

Ten years of commitment later, Lee joined the ANZIIF board and began to manage the ANZIIF Hong Kong Member Advisory Board, which he is still responsible for. 

He says his proudest career achievement is gaining enough experience and knowledge to understand a variety of risks across many different industry segments and to manage different businesses and teams.

“It’s good that we can provide a lot of insurance and risk management solutions and I feel that my current career at Marsh has provided excellent opportunities and the flexibility to keep learning,” he says. 

Grateful to be recognised

Lee adds that it’s a great thing to have an ANZIIF Ambassador in Hong Kong to ensure members understand and make use of their benefits such as attending events and building their career via a strongly directed learning path.

“Without a representative in Hong Kong, it would have been harder for graduates and other non-members to find out about ANZIIF,” he says.

Having acted as an advocate for the ANZIIF brand for at least 15 years, Lee is glad his contribution has been recognised with an official title.

“I’m excited to continue promoting the benefits of professional development and membership at ANZIIF until the end of my career,” he says.