CEO Insights Magazine

Indonesia's risk consultancy and insurance brokerage industry is expanding rapidly and offers various services to individuals and businesses. With a population of more than 275 million and a thriving economy, Indonesia is one of the largest countries in Southeast Asia. Thus, there is a significant requirement for insurance and risk management solutions. The President Director of PT Mitra Harmoni Insurance Broker, Bambang Suseno is a prominent figure in this sector, with over 25 years of experience in risk consultancy and insurance brokerage.

B ambang S useno i s a s easoned p rofessional in the risk consultancy and insurance brokerage industry. He has been working in this field since 1996 and has been socially heading up the Association of Indonesian Qualified Insurance and Reinsurance Brokers (APARI) since 2016, with other roles since 2008. Bambang Suseno is highly regarded in the industry and has received recognition for his work, including being awarded as the Preferred Insurance Leader Indonesia 2021 by the International Business Magazine.

In addition, he also led several organizations to receive international awards, namely leading PT Mitra Harmoni Insurance Broker to be recognized as Top 10 Insurance Broking Companies South East Asia 2022 by Asia Business Outlook; leading APARI to receive awards as the Best Educational Service Provider Indonesia 2022 by World Economic Magazine, the Best Educational Service Provider of the Year Indonesia 2021 by International Business Magazine, the Best Educational Service Provider of the Year Indonesia 2021 by World Business Outlook, the Best Insurance and Reinsurance Broker Training Company Indonesia 2021 by World Business Outlook, and the Educational Service Provider of the Year 2020 by Asia Insurance Review; and also helping an insurtech company  GOCI Insurtech received recognition as APAC CIO Outlook’s Top 10 Insurance Tech Solution Providers in 2019. Below is an excerpt of Bambang Suseno’s exclusive interaction with CEO Insights ASIA magazine.

How has your professional journey been so far?

I have over 26 years of experience in the insurance broking industry, after graduating from college majoring in civil engineering. I joined a company that was looking for engineers to handle construction insurance, and it didn’t take long before I found my passion in insurance broking. Throughout my career, I've worked with both international and local insurance broking companies. I am currently the President Director of PT Mitra Harmoni Insurance Broker, which focuses on risk and insurance solutions for banking, health, and general, including engineering. Under my leadership, the company has been recognized as one of the top 10 insurancebroking companies in Southeast Asia.

Tell us about the flagship offerings provided by PT Mitra Harmoni Insurance Broker. Also, what are the value additions that customers can expect from your offerings?

At our company, we strongly believe that every customer is unique, i.e. has different risk exposures, business priorities, financial conditions, and more. It is our philosophy to tailor and design solutions uniquely to meet the needs of our clients, thus we run our business by applying a service methodology called MHIB (Mapping, Harmonizing, Implementing, and Benchmarking) where we carry out structured business processes which include mapping clients’ business priorities, harmonizing strategies to design solutions, implementing business processes in a professional manner, and benchmarking the solutions to expectations.

Therefore, we take an effort to thoroughly understand our clients' situations before offering solutions. By doing this, we ensure that the solutions we provide a match or even exceed our client's expectations. We don't sell solutions from insurance companies to our clients, but instead, we 'sell' clients’ risks to insurance companies. This ensures that our clients receive appropriate and effective insurance coverage.

What are the fundamental factors you consider while suggesting financial management plans to your customers? How do you personalize your offerings?

I'd like to share with you two examples related to what we do. The first one is about construction insurance. Contractors used to refer to other similar projects when planning their insurance budget, rather than estimating their actual project needs. That's where we come in, we provide support from the beginning of the project phase to ensure that contractors can allocate their insurance premiums to align with their budget.

We also conduct project risk assessments before the project starts, to identify potential risks and provide consultancy services to mitigate them, ultimately helping clients to reduce their insurance premiums. The second example is related to credit life insurance, specifically in Indonesia where most rural banks engaged direct insurers rather than insurance brokers. During the pandemic, several insurance companies suffered from high claims and were forced to pull out of the market, which then made rural banks reluctant to continue to insure their risks. We addressed this challenge by educating rural banks on the benefits of using insurance brokers, who have duties to tailor the solutions and to negotiate with appropriate insurance companies that meet their specific needs.

What is the future destination you are heading towards?

I really believe that in this insurance industry, we shouldn't just work and make a profit, but we also need to give back to this industry that has given us so much business. We have a responsibility to contribute to the industry in meaningful ways, whether it's by sharing our expertise with the community and people, offering opinions on how to strengthen the industry, or taking an active role in insurance associations where we can help to supervise and monitor the performance of our members and ensure they comply with regulations while continuously upskilling their knowledge.

By giving back to the industry, we can create a stronger and more sustainable future for all those involved in insurance, from practitioners to clients. Further, I also have a dream to be able to provide greater insurance benefits for the community, either through a bigger role or through the creation of more massive and useful insurance solutions.  

Bambang Suseno, President Director, PT Mitra Harmoni Insurance Broker

Bambang completed his Civil Engineer’s Degree from Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) and choose to pursue a career in the insurance sector. He is the President Director of PT Mitra Harmoni Insurance Broker, which provides risk solutions ranging from consultancy, broking, and claims handling services. In addition, Bambang is also a Chairman of APARI for the second term and a Vice Chairman of the Indonesia Insurance Foundation (YAI). He is also an Advisor for Qoala, one of the largest insurtech companies in Indonesia, and the Co-Founder of GOCIInsurtech.