OREANDA-NEWS. Tata AIA Life Insurance Company (Tata AIA Life) has won the World Finance Pension Fund of the Year Award 2013 from India at a ceremony held at the London Stock Exchange. The award was bestowed on Tata AIA Life in recognition of its financial strength, efficiency of the investment functions, customer relationship management, operational performance and human resource management.

Accepting the award on behalf of the company, Saravana Kumar, chief investment officer, Tata AIA Life, said, "It is a great honour to be chosen as the winner of World Pension Fund Award from India. This award is a testimony of our endeavour to generate superior and consistent investment returns for our customers to meet their long term financial objectives. We will continue to work hard to help our customers meet their financial goals."

Tata AIA Life was adjudged the winner based on a wide criterion. The most notable amongst them being the incorporation of the latest technologies and full automation that alleviated human error and created an excellent foundation for a highly efficient organisation. The judges were highly impressed with overall approach of Tata AIA Life to customer management and took note of how the company has invested heavily in the continued training of both clients and employees in order to raise the standards. Some of the innovative initiates taken by the company, such as key feature document and customer service camps, were acknowledged by judges as the company's commitment to maintain high standard in customer care.

The judges were particularly impressed by the genuine consideration Tata AIA Life showed for its staff and the human resources practice of the company led by a distinct margin over the other finalists. According to them, the HR of Tata AIA Life was one of the most impressive they had viewed in all the submissions globally.

The ISO standard 10002:2004 certification for the Complaints Management System and the method of implementation of the same was another key parameter that influenced the decision of the judges in favour of Tata AIA Life, as they felt it not only improved the quality of service offering but also raised the bar in service standards across India. A special mention was made of the fact that the company's senior personnel from the investment team are available via video conference to answer queries and communicate personally with the customers.

The judges also applauded the company's efforts towards contributing back to the society. They felt that whilst Tata AIA Life enjoyed a commanding position as one of India's premier institutions, they also led by example across their community projects and showcased responsibility towards the society at large.

The clear vision and direction of the executive team at Tata AIA Life was spoken very highly of by the judging panel. They highlighted that the high operational standards displayed by the company's board has filtered through the organisation and is very much evident throughout the company.

The World Finance Awards have been recognising achievements of innovative financial service providers across the globe by way of their annual awards since 2007. The process of selecting the winners of these awards comprises of two stages:

First is the open voting process by the World Finance audience, whereby all insurance companies that operate in a respective country may be voted for. The top three companies with the highest count of votes are then shortlisted as the finalists and presented to the judging panel.

The judging panel compiles a number of questions to help them better understand the operations of the finalists. On receiving the responses, the judges speak to their contacts/colleagues working in the country being judged for references. The final assessment is based on a range of criteria including financial strength/performance, operational efficiency and effectiveness, product/service development, quality and vision of leadership, customer support and any philanthropic/charitable projects.