Aegon Religare to get fresh capital

The promoters of Aegon Religare Life Insurance will infuse around Rs 450-470 crore capital into their joint venture in the current financial year.

Additional investment will be done in the ratio of 44:26:30 among the three promoters—Religare, Aegon and Bennett, Coleman & Co, respectively.

“We aim to triple our new business income this year. We have recorded a total business of Rs 166 crore last year,” said Rajeev Jamkhedkar managing director and chief executive officer of the company.

In addition, the company plans to double its branch network. “For this, we will hire another 12,000 agents,” said Jamkhedkar. At present, the company operates from its 57 branches. It will open another 40 branches before July.

In 2009-10, the promoters had pumped in Rs 230 crore. Currently, the total capital base stands Rs 570 crore.

The company’s distribution channels include six corporate agencies, direct channel and an agency force and it is looking at signing up more corporate agencies and brokers. It mainly runs on agency model and has 7,700 agents at present.

The company is also looking for bancassurance partners. With a large number of bank partnerships coming up for renewal this year, new entrants in the life space are hoping to tie up with them.