Gwen Kinisu is the CEO of Prudential Life Assurance Kenya (PLAK), a life insurance company that has been in existence for over 90 years.
The company set foot in Kenya in 1930 and later set up their head office in the iconic Prudential Assurance building.
Kinisu was appointed the company’s CEO in October 2021, taking over from Raxit Soni who had served in the same position for over seven years.
Here is her story as told by WoK.
Background
In a past interview, Gwen Njiru Kinisu mentioned that she would have been a nun if she had not considered a career in insurance.
She grew under the care of her late grandmother who was a staunch Catholic, adding that she learnt how to pray using a rosary before she could read and write.
“She was my biggest influence in life and introduced me to God, to Church, and to the rosary. I learned how to pray the rosary everything else. I can’t tell you the last time I was in church but I’m a spiritual person,” she said.
Kinisu is a mother of two, a son and a daughter.
“I’ve worked hard to balance work and home life. I don’t have a life outside of that. I would be such a shame if everything else has worked out but my family is not okay. So I try very much to incorporate them in a lot of what I do,” she noted.
Career
Kinisu has been working in the insurance and banking sectors for over 15 years now.
According to her LinkedIn, she studied at Precious Blood High School after which she proceeded to Chartered Institute of Marketing for a Diploma in Marketing.
After her time at CIM, she joined USIU-Africa where she pursued Bachelor of Science in Business and graduated in 2004.
In 2014, Kinisu returned to USIU-Africa for a Global Executive MBA in International Business.
Career-wise, she worked at AIESEC for four years before moving to PricewaterhouseCoopers where she worked as an intern for less than a year.
She then proceeded to Old Mutual where she worked as a project coordinator for a year and later a director at Thureya for four years.
For four years and three months, Kinisu worked for Pan Africa Life Assurance Ltd as Regional Administration Manager, Business Development Manager and Head of Bancassurance and Brokers.
She also served as Head of Alternative Channels and Bancassurance at Pan Africa Life Assurance for 2 years and 7 months.
She then moved to National Bank of Kenya where she worked between December 2013 and April 2016 when she quit to UAP Old Mutual where she worked for two years.
Her next stop was Prudential Life Assurance where she worked as Chief Commercial Officer for 4 years and 8 months before being appointed the CEO.
Kinisu describes herself as a marketer and marketer with a keen interest in technology and people.
Prudential
Founded in London in 1848, Prudential is one of the world’s oldest and largest insurance companies.
Prudential first provided Life Insurance to Kenya in 1930, having set up their offices in the iconic Prudential Assurance building, constructed in 1959.
Additionally, the company acquired Shield Assurance in 2014 to solidify their footing in Kenya and fulfill their promise of delivering a brighter future.
