Triple Coverage
The Laferla Brothers: Innovation and legacy on shielding success for 40 years
For over four decades, the Laferla Insurance Group has proudly served as a leading provider in Malta's insurance sector, delivering an extensive range of services, from personal insurance products to bespoke commercial and employee benefit coverage. Today, with the second generation of the Laferla family at the helm, the company remains as strong as ever. Dayna Camilleri Clarke recently had the opportunity to sit down with the executive directors, Mark Jr. and Keith Laferla, along with senior management team member Kevin Laferla. During their discussion, they delved into the pillars of their success, the impact of family dynamics on their business, and their exciting plans for pioneering innovation in the years to come.
Celebrating 40 years is a significant milestone. Can you share some key moments and achievements in Laferla Insurance's journey so far?
Mark Laferla Jr
Mark Jr.: One of our most significant milestones was transitioning from representing UK insurers to creating our own health insurance products in 2000, which were underwritten locally. This was a first in the local health insurance sector, which at the time was made up entirely of foreign health insurance products. This initiative marked a new era for us and started the Laferla Health Plans.
The year 2021 marked a significant shift as we, three brothers, formally took over the leadership reins from our father while he remained the chairman of the board.
In 2022, we made a strategic investment by setting up a software development office in Tallinn, Estonia. This move allowed us to have full ownership and control over our innovations, accelerating our digital evolution and enhancing our competitive edge.
2023 was another important year for us as we integrated our life insurance operation under our agency license. This change allowed us more flexibility in serving our clients across life and non-life lines of business more efficiently. As an example, we are now one of the few local firms able to provide corporate clients with a holistic employee benefits scheme, including health, life, and pension products for their employees.
As we commemorate our 40th anniversary in 2024, we are also thrilled to launch Digimed with two prominent local partners. We believe Digimed is a game-changing solution in the healthcare industry. This marks the first of many planned strategic investments that will integrate vertically within our core insurance offering by providing significant complementary value to our customers.
Laferla Insurance is eagerly embracing technology and innovation. What exciting new digital transformations can your clients look forward to in the coming years?
Keith Laferla
Keith: Digital innovation has always been at the forefront of our strategy. As early as the 1980s, we were pioneers in linking our sales offices across the island and issuing motor insurance certificates on the spot—a remarkable achievement for its time. This forward-thinking approach is ingrained in our corporate DNA, driving us to continuously enhance the customer experience and operational efficiency.
Our in-house development team in Tallinn epitomises our commitment to innovation. It allows us to customise every aspect of our services to meet our client's evolving needs and match international industry trends.
Mark Jr.: We are on the brink of launching groundbreaking fintech solutions, primarily featuring an app that promises to revolutionise how customers interact and administer their insurance requirements. This will be complemented by a web-based customer portal, including dedicated platforms for corporate clients. Together, these applications will introduce various new features locally that we believe will set a gold standard, leading the insurance industry into a new era of excellence.
With you, Mark Jr., Keith and Kevin at the helm, how does the dynamic of the three brothers influence the company's strategic decisions and culture?
Kevin Laferla
Kevin: The synergy of working closely with my brothers is genuinely invaluable. We each oversee distinct domains, leveraging each other's skills and expertise while collectively executing the company's vision. Our shared, forward-looking outlook and unified synergy enable us to achieve remarkable results.
This familial bond extends beyond the three of us. We are dedicated to surrounding ourselves with exceptional individuals. Our entire team shares our vision and corporate values – Family, Loyalty, Credibility, Stability and Quality – implementing these within all aspects of our operation.
Mark Jr.: Our father founded the organisation in 1984 and built a solid reputation for the brand over the years. With this foundation, it felt natural for all three of us to join the company, even though he never pressured us to follow in his footsteps. Today, we are reaping the rewards of these decisions, as they have led to us becoming an extremely strong unit, which is allowing us to achieve new heights.
Customer experience has always been a cornerstone of Laferla's success. How do you plan to enhance this experience further in the future?
Mark Jr.: At Laferla, we have always pursued a distinctive approach, investing heavily in brand recognition and prioritising exemplary customer service. These core principles have set us apart from our competitors and formed the foundation of our enduring success. As we continue to expand, we remain steadfast in our commitment to enhancing our brand and maintaining our reputation for unparalleled service, which is today further enhanced by our digital innovation strategy while retaining a personal approach in our customer interactions.
The insurance industry is highly competitive. What unique strategies will Laferla employ to maintain its market leadership and grow?
Mark Jr.: Customer experience is the driving force behind Laferla's success. This objective has always driven us and continues to drive us to constantly and consistently improve our product and service offerings—even if we are already considered market leaders.
Keith: Attracting and retaining exceptional talent is paramount to achieving this. While the competition for skilled professionals is intense in Malta, we are fortunate to enjoy an exceptionally low staff turnover rate. Many of our colleagues have been with us for over 15 years, some even over 30 years. Our secret lies in identifying individuals with a can-do attitude and a customer-centric mindset while working with them to enhance processes and invest in the professional knowledge and tools necessary to excel.
Laferla has consistently invested in digital solutions over the years. Can you elaborate on some of the new initiatives you are developing and their expected impact on the company's growth?
Keith: Our foray into telemedicine through Digimed is an exciting venture outside the insurance sector. Leveraging our expertise in health insurance and our tech-driven approach, together with the skills and experience our carefully selected partners bring to the table, we firmly believe that it will transform healthcare experiences in Malta. It will revolutionise the way in which both medical professionals and patients interact with health data, which is in line with the EU's strategic objectives in the healthcare space.
Mark Jr.: We are actively developing a broad ecosystem of applications and services with the aim of vertically integrating all these projects, which will offer tremendous value to our customers.
What are Laferla's plans for international expansion, and how do you envision the company evolving over the next decade?
Kevin: Our vision for the future involves further digitalisation and automation, streamlining operations to deliver an even more efficient experience. By leveraging modern tools and AI, we can alleviate mundane tasks and empower our team to focus on creative, strategic initiatives while maintaining and increasing personal communication with our clients.
Mark Jr.: Strategically, we are looking beyond Malta's shores, with plans to expand into more European countries and the MENA region. The current investments and developments we have already mentioned will serve as a solid platform to enable us to achieve this vision. We cannot ignore the importance of maintaining our core values, which have been pivotal to our success over the past 40 years and should, therefore, continue to be a crucial part of our formula going forward.
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