|
Gary Bennett is hard to recognise when he walks through the massive doors of The Trident hotel's lobby. A year or so ago, he seemed conspicuous by a weighty presence, and not just as CEO of Max New York Life (MNYL). Today he looks much trimmer than I remember. Perhaps my memory is playing tricks. But no, the maitre d' at Saffron, the Trident's Indian restaurant, who obviously knows Bennett well, tactfully compliments him on his "fitness".The mystery is solved, writes Kanika Datta. | |||
Bennett admits to having lost 52 kg over 18 months from a strict regimen of dieting (high on salad and fruit, low on carbs) and exercise (two hours a day at least).The routine has clearly been expensive, because Bennett says he's given away ൨ beautiful suits". Meanwhile, he displays a natty slate-coloured suit he bought in New York a few weeks previously — Ralph Lauren, no less. Bennett then displays the label on the back — Made in India. "India is taking over the world," he says with a grin.
It could be standard expat-CEO speak — like others, Bennett is hugely excited about India. But as one of the few expatriate chiefs of a leading Indian life insurance company, Bennett, an Australian, is in a position to make an informed judgement. He's a 26-year veteran of the Asian insurance markets, with considerable dirt-under-the-fingernails experience in China, Vietnam and Indonesia, to name a few with a variety of companies (including the Australian version of the Life Insurance Corporation).
Before India, he'd run five different life insurance companies in five different parts of the world — Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Korea. But India was no mystery since he'd visited it frequently in the nineties as prospects of liberalisation in the world's second most populous country loomed.
In fact, Bennett likes to describe himself as a "born-again Indophile". A waiter glides up to take our orders and I wonder what Bennett is going to choose from Saffron's rich north Indian menu. He surprises me by ordering dal makhni, roti and tandoori chicken. I helpfully suggest that he may want to tell the chef to cut the makhni (butter) but Bennett says no. "I haven't eaten an Indian meal this week," is his excuse. If that was the case, I was sorry for him. Indian food has never been The Oberoi group's culinary forte and the meal confirms this. Luckily Bennett is keen to talk and eats sparingly and with indifference.
He took charge of MNYL, a joint venture between Analjit Singh's healthcare chain Max and New York Life, America's biggest life insurer in mid-2004, at a critical juncture. MNYL's charismatic start-up chief Anuroop "Tony" Singh had just been posted to Paris having put the company among the top five private insurers in India.
So, Bennett stepped into big shoes and he was, expectedly if unfairly, constantly being measured against his predecessor. Certainly his direct approach was a contrast to Singh's collegiate style, but his ability and experience were hardly in question. He was recruited by New York Life from the UK giant Prudential to run its Hong Kong business. As he recalls, "I was in Hong Kong just long enough for people in NYL to understand that I had visited India up to about 50 times and had enough Indian experience to be asked if I would like to come to MNYL." A recce revealed a "fantastic management team and great partners," so he decided to accept.
Settling here has strengthened his India evangelism. Instead of voicing the usual complaints about the slow speed of reform or lack of infrastructure, Bennett firmly believes that, as far as life insurance is concerned, India is the place to be ahead of China. "India has held surprises for me in the fact that things have happened so quickly. Indians' ability to access information quickly has driven the speed of financial services here more than anywhere," he says.
He maintains that foreign investors did not recognise this as early as they should have. For instance, the insurance business in India has had a pan-Indian opening unlike China, which opened its market province by province. "India is in a sweet spot in time," he says, "you've got the economy in an incredibly good position, an emerging and sensationally informed middle class and an insurance business that opened up right across the country." The market, he adds, is delivering on its promise.
When I raise the issue of the regulator's restrictions on pricing and its irritating habit of blocking a new product at the last minute, Bennett demurs that it does an "outstanding job of balancing the needs of protecting the consumer and growing the marketplace — few regulators have to do both." His excitement about India is evident — while I've almost finished my vegetarian thali, Bennett has hardly eaten.
I point this out and take advantage of the pause as he spoons up some dal, to ask him why MNYL, with a partner like New York Life, has not moved up in the rankings. He thinks a bit. "It probably concerns me that we continue to be in the top quartile in the marketplace but the drivers of this are profitable long-term growth." The game, he adds is all about consistency. Yes, New York Life is number one in the US, but it took 160 years for the organisation to get there.
"I know that there are times when I get frustrated, but this is not a get-rich-quick game; this is a long-term quality business in which you've got to deliver the promise in the contract." He "gets angry with India" on this question of haste. "People are killing themselves with speed," he says. Instead, he thinks it's also important to do things right "because in this industry what I do today will impact you in 30 years".
What about talk of tension between the partners and rumours that Analjit Singh was unhappy with the pace of growth? Bennett replies elliptically, "I guess there's always talk of tension between partners. But that's logical in a growth marketplace." But, he adds, both shareholders recently agreed on a significant step-up in strategy called the Everest Initiative, involving investments of about Rs 2,500 crore over the next four years to grow to at least 400 locations (from 200 at present) across 125 cities.
This lunch meeting comes several months after the request because Bennett is either on the wing or incarcerated in meetings. But a full work schedule does not prevent him from having a wide range of other interests. Chief among them is collecting wine, which he hopes his 10-year-old daughter will see as a smart investment some years from now. Bennett's collection is stored in specialist cellars in Sydney, Melbourne and London. He focuses on Australian grain Shiraz and has built up what he describes as a "full vertical" since 1951 through to the last release. He restricts his collection to vineyards with vintages of less than 1,000 cases a year and from wine makers who've been recognised either by Robert Parker or one of the wine-rating agencies. We chat a bit about Australian wine and since I am little more than a connoisseur of plonk, I naively say I quite liked Oberois' Cinkara, which comes from its Australian vineyards. Bennett blenches and says dryly, "I see I'll have to educate you."
I hastily switch the subject to his collection of local art — Bennett and his wife are regulars on the Delhi art scene. He's particularly proud of a painting he has bought from Rahul Dravid's mother (Dravid is MNYL's brand ambassador).
And, of course, like all Australians, he's a cricket fanatic, having played competition cricket as an opening bat and first-change swing bowler.
Bennett has picked at his meal and we decide against dessert — he's got another 10 kg to lose, he says. The bill — a steep Rs 2,330 for tasteless curries — paid, Bennett sweeps off in his S-class Mercedes to yet another meeting.
