Max New York, Mahesh coop in bancassurance tie-up

Private insurance player Max New York Life has tied up with A P Mahesh Urban Cooperative Bank for a bancassurance partnership.

The life insurance company is targeting to achieve 50 per cent contribution of business from partnerships (including bancassurance ones) within the next four-five years. At present, partnerships contribute to 25 per cent of the company's business.

Addressing mediapersons on Thursday, Rajesh Sud, executive director (agency, bancassurance and direct sales distribution), Max New York Life, said, "This is our first partnership on the cooperative bancassurance side in Andhra Pradesh. On a nationwide basis, we have tie-ups with five other cooperative banks like Thane Janata Sahakari Bank and New India Cooperative Bank." Max New York Life has also tied up with a private bank "� Yes Bank.

"We will be increasing the number of bancassurance tie-ups on a large scale, and in the next 4-5 years we see the contribution of partnerships to our business growing to 50 per cent from the current 25 per cent," Sud said. Apart from banks, Max New York Life's partnerships include the ones with organisations like Anand Rathi.

Max New York Life has sold over five lakh policies with a sum assured of around Rs 16,700 crore so far. It has 9,000 agents out of which 126 are MDRT (Million Dollar Round Table) members with seven being from Hyderabad. MDRT is an international association of sales professionals in life insurance based financial business.

B N Rathi, chairman of A P Mahesh Urban Cooperative Bank, said that the bank expects a commission of 50 lakh on a premium collection of around Rs 1.5 crore in the first year of tie-up.

The bank has 30 branches and its deposits and advances are in excess of Rs 500 crore. The bank has a share capital base of Rs 11 crore with around 40,000 shareholders. It ended 2004-05 with net non-performing assets at zero per cent.