Addressing the press conference at the time of opening of branch office at Bangalore, Mr. Jun Hemmi, executive director, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance, said that currently Japan based Tokio Marine Holding Inc. which holds 26% stake in Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance, is ready to increase its stake to 49% in the joint venture if Indian norms on Foreign Direct Investment in insurance is relaxed. The firm also plans to open 6 more branches before the end of this financial year in addition to opening of Bangalore branch as above.
Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance is a joint venture between Edelweiss Financial Services and Tokio Marine. Edelweiss Financial Services is one of India’s leading diversified financial service group which offers a large range of products and services spanning across asset class and consumers segment and businesses broadly divided into Investment Banking, Brokerage Services, Asset Management and Financing and Tokio Marine Holdings Inc, one of the leading insurers globally with over 130 years of experience across the globe. Tokio Marine Group has successfully established Life Insurance operations as a second generation entrant in developed markets like Japan and Singapore as well as in developing markets like China, Malaysia and Thailand. The Group is rated ‘AAA’ by Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR).
Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance currently offers 9 policies for the individual and 2 group plans after having started its operation in June 2011 with a paid up capital of Rs. 550 crores vis-à-vis the regulatory norms of Rs 100 crores. The firm has also plans to launch 3 traditional products, which are in the early stage of implementation.
This company is doing very well in the industry as compared to the other new entrants in the private Life Insurance sector. Mr. Yash Mohan Prasad, Chief Agency Officer, positively quoted that the firm expects to see Rs. 50 crores worth of new business premium till year ending March 2013 as against the premium of Rs. 12 crores for the corresponding period last year. He also said that the firm has achieved the highest growth in new business premium among the private sector insurers with new premium revenue standing to Rs. 14 crores for the 7 months period ending October 2012 as compared to Rs. 1 crore premium for the same period last year. The firm also sold 10,000 individual plans so far with traditional plans contributing to 95% to the sales volume. On this Mr. Jun Hemmi told that the company has no requirement of any capital infusion for the next 3 -4 years for solvency purpose.
The company market share stood to 0.2% as at end of October 2012, which the company expects to see at 3% over the next 5 – 7 years. Among the private insurer, the company’s market share stood at 2.5%.
