Hi! I'm Karen Lieu of HSBC Insurance Brokers (Asia-Pacific) Limited (INBA). I joined INBA in July 1995 after spending 11 years studying and working in the UK and US.

Newcomers to our Company may not know that I started as a Senior Account Manager and was promoted a year later to Senior Manager when the Financial Risks Division (now Financial and Professional Risks Practice) became a standalone profit centre. My career experience at INBA has been extremely challenging and rewarding. Throughout the years, I have held various positions within the Company, such as leading the claims team, IT development, business development and channel management, in addition to having regional responsibilities for the growth of our Financial and Professional Risks Practice. Now, I've been given an exciting new opportunity to manage the Hong Kong office and drive its future growth.

My day usually begins with setting two or three objectives that need to be completed by the close of business. Depending on the role I'm in, these objectives are either revenue or operation critical. Throughout the day, there will be many distractions and lots of trouble-shooting but I don't lose sight of my objectives. At the end of the day, I leave work with a sense of accomplishment and spend the rest of the evening with my family.

The greatest feeling about working at INBA is having the confidence that hard work and dedication will be rewarded. I am also thrilled to experience the changes INBA has made towards making ourselves "The Best Place to Work". We have introduced a number of meaningful programmes following the feedback received from the last few Global People Surveys. These include leaving work one day a month at 3:30pm, casual Fridays, lunch and learns, Care Ambassadors, adopting a document management system, and many other new initiatives.

In the last two years, we have seen Insurance become one of the five customer groups at HSBC, the formation of the HSBC Insurance brand, and the communication of our 1,000 Day Strategy. These initiatives have brought significant changes to our operations. For instance, our business is now better aligned with other customer groups to leverage each other's strengths, awareness of our capabilities internally and externally has increased, and our company is more performance driven. Access to the client base of the world's largest financial institution is something our competitors envy but can never attain!

I would recommend INBA as an employer to any individuals who are looking for a challenging career that provides opportunities to achieve high goals and that rewards dedication and outstanding performance.