HDFC Ergo General Insurance Company has gone through two avatars in ten years of its existence. Promoted by the Indian housing loan company Housing Development Finance Company (HDFC) and the US insurance group Chubb Corporation, the company saw the exit of its US parent after a few years. After a period as HDFC General Insurance, the company acquired a new foreign shareholder in Ergo, a direct insurance company of one of the top reinsurance groups of the world, Munich Re.
In this interview with Premium’s K Nitya Kalyani,
Mr Ritesh Kumar, Managing Director of HDFC Ergo General Insurance Company talks about the challenges and trends in Motor and Health insurance, both of which represent the great hopes of the General insurance industry’s future in India.

Mr Ajay Bimbhet, Managing Director of Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Company, joined the company in 2007. Prior to that, he was MD of Deutsche Bank. With over three decades of Indian and international experience in retail banking and greenfield ventures, Mr Bimbhet’s in-depth knowledge and understanding of the Indian market stems from having worked in various top management positions with majors such as ANZ Grindlays, Standard Chartered Bank and IDBI Bank.
A Masters in Economics from the prestigious Delhi School of Economics, he has also a strong international perspective having worked in the UK in the 1980s. He later headed the Retail Bank of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, one of the largest banks in the UAE.

Dr P. Nandagopal, CEO of IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company, on why India hardly measures up on all the three vital parameters of a healthy and booming insurance market.

Not dabblers but only those with a tremendous understanding of the market and application are welcome to partner with us, Mr Praveen Gupta, CEO and MD, Raheja QBE General Insurance Company, tells K Nitya Kalyani.

Deep pockets don’t mean a thing if you can’t control your costs, General Insurance Corporation CMD Yogesh Lohiya tells K. Nitya Kalyani

L & T General Insurance’s Chief Executive Officer Mr Joydeep K Roy believes that the tied agent is a stable source of business but says developing multiple channels for selling is crucial.

Mr Edwin P Morrow, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, International Association of Registered Financial Consultants, stresses the role of Financial Planning to boost your customer-friendliness.

In an interview to Premium’s K Nitya Kalyani, Mr Michel M Dacorogna, Deputy Chief Risk Officer, SCOR group discusses the risks that insurance companies face, especially in an emerging market like India.

In April 2007, Indian General insurance business was taken off the tariff, the price list for many types of General insurance which had been statutory for decades. Some tariffs were very high – for Fire insurance – for example. Others were too low – like Motor insurance, especially Motor Third Party Liability. This led to [...]

Mr M Ramadoss, the outspoken Chairman-cum-Managing Director of The New India Assurance Company, has worked out a strategy to use individual agents to the maximum to achieve his plans for the company. Agents are the most cost effective distribution method, he says in this interview with K Nitya Kalyani, and he is putting things in place for New India to nurture and celebrate its agents, unlike in the past.