Launching the first ever heart insurance for couples in India, covering 19 kinds of heart ailments such as coronary artery bypass and angioplasty, Aviva India CEO and MD Trevor Bull tells that health will be one of their focus areas in the Indian market.
He also adds that demonetisation will help the insurance space in the long and medium term as savings will increase as people start putting their money in banks. However, he points out that in the short-term there will be turbulence. He further says that the company plans to engage more with “digitally biased” companies to expand in the Indian market. Excerpts:
Q: Demonetisation has been widely debated by experts across sectors. What do you think the impact of demonetisation will be for the insurance space?
A: In the short-term, we will experience some turbulence. However, in the medium and long term, it will help us as saving will increase.
Q: David Macmillan, your chairman, Global Health Insurance and chief executive officer, Aviva Europe told Business Standard in a recent interview that your company will have 5 million customers by 2020. What is the game plan to reach that number?
A:We plan to grow by means of alliances. While I will refrain from taking specific names, our line of thought is to partner with companies that are “digitally biased” or “new age” companies. Forging good alliances is the way forward for Aviva.
Q: Five million customers is a massive target. Can we expect an increase in strength your of work-force?
A: We will channelise our existing manpower in line with our growth. We do not plan to up our human resource as we grow. We plan to grow digitally which means we will not require salesman. So, the existing salesman can be used in other areas which might become more relevant at that point in time.
Q: Earlier this year, your foreign partner has increased stake in the Indian joint venture to 49%. What are the opportunities you see in the insurance market in India?
A: We see opportunities in the SME’s and the health sector as far as the Indian market is concerned. We see huge potential in the start-up space as well.
Q: IRDAI recently released life insurance numbers during the period beginning April 1, 2016, to October 31, 2016. Despite huge increase in premium mobilisations, the number of policies sold rose by just 0.31%. Do you think the industry is facing difficulties?
A: The main problem with the insurance industry is that it is viewed as an investment. Insurance is not to be treated as an investment. For the last few years, there has not been sustained growth. Also, I feel that the classical model in insurance will not work any longer.
Source: Business Standard
Image Courtesy: India Today
