Om Kotak Forays Into Ahmedabad, Launches Three Products

Om Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Company (OKMLIC), a joint venture between Kotak Mahindra Finance and the London-based Old Mutual plc, today launched its operations in Ahmedabad by opening its office here and also unveiling its first three products.

OKMLIC managing director Shivaji Dam said that, as part of expanding its operations across the country, the company plans to open eight more branch offices during the current year. This would enable OKMLIC to have its presence in 13 Indian cities by March 2002. "While the branch in Vadodara would be opened this week itself, the other cities where branches are planned in the coming months include Surat, Rajkot, Pune, Nagpur, Madras, Hyderabad and Gauhati," he added.

 

Emphasising that OKMLIC would have four branches in Gujarat by the end of this year, Dam said: "We have a strong focus on Gujarat as a market and believe that there are abundant investment opportunities here as people in the state understand good finance and good bargain. We have already appointed 46 agents in Ahmedabad and 11 in Vadodara and plan to recruit more agents in the state during the coming months."

Focusing on his company's products, OKMLIC chief marketing officer Treman S Ahluwalia said the Om Endowment Plan aims to cover life and ensures that the saving is not idle. The plan features an accumulation account that helps savings grow year after year and, on maturity, the person receives the sum assured plus bonus. In case of death, the beneficiary receives the sum assured plus the excess, if any, of accumulation account over sum assured.

The Om Moneyback Plan covers the life of the policyholder and also provides guarantee cash payment of a part of the sum assured every five years. On maturity, the policyholder gets the guaranteed benefits plus the bonus addition. In case of death, the beneficiary would receive the entire sum assured plus guaranteed cover increases of 7 per cent every year.

Om Insurance Bond aims to cover the life with a one-time payment. The plan acts as a fixed deposit that doubles the investment on maturity. In case of death, the beneficiary immediately gets the death benefit. "This third product is appropriate for investors in bank and company deposits and for those wanting to park their VRS proceeds or any one-time inflows," he elaborated.

Ahluwalia said that during 2002-03, OKMLIC plans to get into pension fund management and would also be opening eight new branch offices in India, which would take its total number of branch offices to 21 by March 2003.