My Name is Alison Law. I'm the Head of Bancassurance in Vietnam, where I also support our strategic partner BaoViet Insurance. It's my job to develop our bancassurance business, mainly with HSBC and Techcombank (one of HSBC's strategic partners in Vietnam).

I joined HSBC Insurance in 1997 right after my university graduation. I chose HSBC Insurance because I believed in the potential of the Company and the insurance market in Hong Kong. Looking back, I think it was the best decision I have ever made! Over the past 11 years, I have been offered many opportunities to develop myself and grow with the Company, both locally and regionally.

The tipping point of my career was the opportunity to work in the Regional Office with the Deputy Regional Head of Insurance, Asia Pacific. I started to work with him in 2005, right after coming back from a six-month secondment in the Insurance Head Office (IHO) in London. Our department was called Strategy and Regional Business Development and we were responsible for insurance Merger and Acquisition activities in Asia Pacific. My typical day involved contacting regulators, potential partners and HSBC offices around the region, all of which was overwhelming to me as I didn't have any experience. The biggest challenge was to build business relationships with people that I had never met and impress them with our brand and business. I wasn't just asking them to put their trust in HSBC colleagues in overseas offices, I was convincing them to dedicate their time and money to support our Merger and Acquisition activities! My two years in the Regional Office were fun and adventurous. I had to develop both hard and soft business skills, including financial and insurance business knowledge, and negotiation and communication skills. It felt like attending a business school, but it was even better because I got the chance to test and practice everything I learned.

In the past four years of my career with HSBC Insurance, I have experienced several secondments in Shanghai, Taiwan, Singapore, London and now Vietnam. Through these secondments, I have strengthened my interpersonal skills and learned good practices from overseas operations, especially since my roles and responsibilities in each secondment varied. The secondments have also provided me with the opportunity to build a network with Group executives and colleagues outside my home country, which is perhaps the most precious thing I have gained from the experience.

It is a fact that few organisations can provide so many overseas secondment opportunities for their employees. HSBC Insurance wants its employees to be mobile and flexible, and I always encourage people to grab any secondment opportunities they can get! Thanks to the Company's impressive regional expansion, there are more and more opportunities for us. To me, HSBC Insurance is not only the fastest growing business line in the HSBC Group but also "The Best Place to Work"!