Page 14 - Insurance Times April 2019

MetLife likely to raise Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance to focus on living benefits

stake in life insurance instead of death benefits
venture Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance is working to provide differentiated products to
customers and is focusing on living benefits rather
MetLife, Inc is considering buying than focusing on death benefits.
additional
stake in PNB "One big difference we made in the last one year
MetLife In- is that from death benefits, we have moved to liv-
ing benefits. The way we define living benefits is
dia Insur-
that the person should see the benefit, a unique
ance Com-
benefit coming during the time when somebody is
p a n y
alive," said Tarun Chugh, Chief Executive Officer, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance,
"MetLife is now looking to buy stake
in the Indian life insurance com- adding that this is very prominent in the health products.
pany," said sources close to the de- The insurer is now moving to the affluent class from its mass focus, and has
velopment. also revamped its product range. "We have ensured that we get a lot more

"The leadership change at the global innovation in products," he told, adding that the insurer has introduced the
concept of return of mortality charge (ROMC) in the wealth-creation space.
level, with Kishore Ponnavolu mov-
ing to head Asia region and Michel The concept of ROMC, under which the customer receives all mortality charges
Khalaf as head MetLife Worldwide, deducted over the course of the policy term at the time of maturity, was intro-
has triggered changes in the ap- duced as part of the online unit-linked product, Bajaj Allianz Life Goal Assure,
proach towards Indian market," the in February 2018. Since then, the insurer has sold over 27,000 policies, clock-
sources said. ing an annualised premium of more than Rs. 263 crore.

PNB MetLife had filed for an IPO in Elaborating on the insurer's plans for the new fiscal 2019-20, Chugh said it will
August with the idea to list in Janu- continue to focus on living benefits, and will also work on continued innova-
ary. However, the listing did not hap- tion in the tech and innovation space. In terms of distribution, Bajaj Allianz Life
pen due to market conditions, which Insurance plans to launch a point of sale (POS) channel.
led to some senior level exits. "This year we have already started our other channel called proprietary sales,
Bhawani Singh Pathania, who was which is upselling to our existing customers," said Chugh, adding that the com-
chief agency officer, and Niraj Shah, pany will also focus on the online ULIP space.
former chief financial officer, left the
company after the delay in IPO.
ICICI Lombard, MobiKwik join hands to provide cyber-
Khalid Ahmad has been named in-
terim CFO after Shah left to join insurance cover of Rs 50,000
HDFC Life. Pathania has joined ICICI ICICI Lombard and Mobikwik have announced a partnership to offer cyber-in-
Prudential Life Insurance as execu- surance cover of Rs 50,000 to protect against online
tive vice president. frauds. ICICI Lombard and digital financial services
PNB MetLife has now decided to list platform Mobikwik said the partnership aims to pro-
the company after the general elec- vide protection against unauthorised and fraudulent
tions later this year, once the market transactions online, across bank accounts, debit/
stabilises, the sources said. It has al- credit cards and mobile wallets. The cyber-insurance
ready informed employees about can be availed digitally through an app at only Rs
the plan to defer the IPO. 99 per month and with a sum insured of Rs 50,000, said a release.
The company has embedded value MobiKwik users can avail the 'Commercial Cyber Insurance' policy underwrit-
of Rs 3,400 crore at the end of ten by ICICI Lombard and enjoy the benefit of a stress-free and secured trans-
March 31, 2018. It can be valued at action for its users who opt for this cover, it added. "This relationship with
anywhere between Rs 8,500 crore to MobiKwik further strengthens ICICI Lombard's endeavour to provide innovative
Rs 12,000 crore, based on the esti- and unique products against the new-age risks and cater to the needs of the
mates. Its value of new business customers of our business associates," Sanjeev Mantri, Executive Director, ICICI
margin was 17.1 per cent.
Lombard said.
14 The Insurance Times, April 2019