Pru Life UK, Making a Difference in People’s Lives

By: Nishit P. Majmudar, President and Chief Executive Officer, Pru Life UK

I feel very privileged to be a part of this very prestigious column. And I hope that the sharing of my life’s journey will encourage and inspire the younger professionals to get to the top and enjoy the view from up here.

My two-and-a-half-decade career has been a most interesting journey. Six jobs in four countries in varying positions! I could not have asked for a more colorful and enriching experience. The last 15 months have been a particularly steep learning curve as this has been my first stint as a CEO.

Our Company, Pru Life UK, is now 12 years old in the Philippines. It is moving up the chart very quickly and my job is to keep up the momentum for growth and success. Most countries in Asia lag behind the USA, Europe and Australia in terms of the proportion of population that recognizes the need to do any form of financial planning. And on the other hand, Asian countries have much higher savings ratio than the Western countries. For us, this is a great opportunity to help our customers to plan and thereby, improve significantly the probability of them achieving their dreams.

Medical care has improved so much over the last couple of decades that most of us will live much longer and, in many instances, that could mean that our retirement is longer than our childhood! Longer life spans are not always a blessing; in fact, the thought of living more than two decades (from age 60 to 80+) without earning a salary is a scary proposition if we have not planned well for retirement.

As a team, we are also very clear that our legacy will not only be the sales and profit numbers but also the number of smiles that we bring to the faces of our customers.

As one of the best multi-national companies operating in the financial services sector in Asia, we have the expertise and the experience to make a difference in people’s lives. We remain excited about the size of this opportunity.

And now to share some of my life’s experiences in what has been a very satisfying and hugely enriching career.

The years 1985-1988 were the worst in my career as I failed all my actuarial exams during the period. Each time I failed, the harder I worked, but the result stayed the same. But there were valuable lessons that I learnt from that experience and these lessons have stayed firmly with me. In fact, I recollect those days with great fondness and satisfaction.

Very few individuals are gifted enough to guarantee the final result but all of us are blessed to be able to determine the effort that we put into the pursuit of our dreams and aspirations. No Pain, No Gain...there are no free lunches in Life.

Starting from a humble background has its own advantages. I am not suggesting that one should always hope for this! In addition to promoting hard work and discipline, a modest background also makes it easier to take “calculated risks” in life. To use a sporting analogy, we have seen so often that the leader in a golf tournament tries to protect his lead whereas the player that is a few shots off the lead, goes for broke as he has much less to lose! I am a firm believer that almost everything in life is ruled by the principle of risk versus returns. I have spent too little time in the Philippines to make a statement with any confidence or credibility, but I understand that entrepreneurial spirit and talent are at a premium. The perceived comfort zone is, most times, the biggest enemy to success.

In my own case, I went to the United Kingdom for a job interview with hardly any money in my pocket and then moved from the UK to Singapore and then from Singapore to the Philippines without ever having visited those countries before. You have to do your homework but an element of courage helps to achieve your dreams. So, plan well but be prepared to take risks in life.

And the last learning for me from this wonderful journey of life is that for the one who dares to dream, there is a whole world to conquer. I was once asked to motivate and inspire a group of young staff in the Company. I started the session by asking them what their dreams were. Most of them did not have a clear dream. In those circumstances, it was almost impossible to motivate them and for them to demonstrate a real fire in the belly.

And just this week, at one of our office events, we had invited the first Pinoy expedition that successfully scaled Mount Everest. Their story was all about their dreams, their passion and their commitment. They had no money, hardly enough food, but they had a clear dream...Nothing is impossible but only if the dream is clear. The great thing about dreaming is that it helps improve your health (there is enough research to show that)! So friends, dream big...even if you don’t follow up on those dreams!

On a more serious note, I would have to disappoint the ones that are looking for the proven formula for success in life. Most times, we need a slice of luck to be successful and the ones that believe in God, will agree that luck and divine intervention are one and the same thing.

So make sure you plan your lives and find success and happiness.