Bharti AXA Life Chief executive quits, Metlife's may follow suit

Two private life insurance companies are set to see a change of guard. While Bharti AXA Life’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nitin Chopra quit last month, Metlife CEO and Managing Director Rajesh Relan is also on his way out.

Sources close to the development said Relan was likely to put in his papers in the next few weeks.

Glen William, general manager for strategy (Southeast Asia and China) at Bharti AXA Life, is in charge as an interim CEO. Chopra left the company on April 23. Sources said Chopra left due to personal reasons.

Bharti AXA Life, a joint venture between Bharti and AXA, has been scouting for a third partner for a long time. It was said to be in talks with Syndicate Bank for a stake sale. The company has started hunting for a new CEO and expects to make an announcement in the next couple of months.

 

Metlife spokesperson, however, denied the news about Relan’s departure. Metlife is a joint venture between Metlife International Holdings, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, M Pallonji and Company and other private investors.

Recently, the insurer lost its bancassurance partner Axis Bank to Max New York Life. Axis Bank had picked up 4 per cent stake in Max New York Life for a 10-year strategic bancassurance tie-up.

The third largest private sector lender had brought in close to Rs 1,100 crore of new business premium and was a key distributor for Metlife. It had also earned a distribution revenue of close to Rs 400 crore over a three-year period. To take care of the leads generated by Axis Bank, Metlife had deployed around 700 executives.

But, the new partnership of Axis Bank with Max New York Life will still bring in renewal premium for Metlife, as 250,000 customers of the bank are its policyholders.