Max Life Holds Marketing Talks With 5 Banks

Max New York Life Insurance Company Ltd, the joint venture between the Max group and New York Life Insurance, has entered into talks with five banks for marketing its products in the country.

Although the chief executive officer and managing director, Anuroop 'Tony' Singh declined to name them, he said the company has initiated negotiations with one large public bank. The others were foreign banks.

On whether the company would target their credit card customers, he said, "We as a matter of policy will not market our policies through credit cards."

Max is in developing group insurance policies which will be launched in soon. It is at present involved in studying the market for group insurance policies in the country.

Singh said Max had exceeded its premium collection target by 20 per cent, while expenses had been within the budget. On the investment front, the company has locked in its capital in a long-term instrument and returns were marginally above the figures worked out.

The company is opening a second office at New Delhi and would go for another round of branch expansion when it stabilises all the ten branches in the country.

For the nine months ending December 2001, the company sold policies worth Rs 1,500 crore. With focus on whole life policies, Singh said, "Max has started selling insurance as life cover facilities and not as tax saving instruments and that is why 90 per cent of the policies sold were whole life ones".