GIC Re's Vaidyan at no. 47 among Fortune's 50 most powerful businesswomen

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Alice Vaidyan, the chairman and managing director of the state-run General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) has been ranked in the US-based Fortune Magazine's '50 most powerful businesswomen 2018 list', making her the only entry from the country.

The 59-year-old Vaidyan is ranked 47 among the list of 50 most powerful businesswomen outside the US, which is led by Glaxosmithkline chief executive Emma Walmsley, ending the four-year reign of Banco Santander executive chair Ana Botin.

This is the 18th year that Fortune has ranked the most powerful business women outside the US. The 50 global businesswomen represent 19 countries and a variety of industries.
 

Vaidyan took over as the head of the nation's only reinsurer in 2016, and under her management GIC's global ranking has gone to one of the top 10 among global reinsurance firms from 14 in 2016.

The company had reported a net income of $501.6 million on a revenue of $ 6.8 billion in fiscal 2018, which was up 44 per cent in fiscal 2017, a year in which Vaidyan also oversaw the company's initial public offering, which was the third-largest ever public float. The company has a market cap of over $ 8 billion.
 

Vaidyan, hailing from Kerala, has pushed GIC, which operates in over 160 countries, to expand more aggressively overseas.

A 30-year veteran of the insurance industry, she has a graduate degree in English and diploma from the Harvard Business School.