Despite current economic slowdown, the company has aggressive hiring plans and will focus on quality of business and productivity
AEGON Religare Life Insurance today announced its business plans for the financial year 2009-2010, giving details on its performance in FY09.
The key strategy for AEGON Religare Life Insurance in FY10 is to build distribution and focus on productivity for all of its 52 branches across 42 cities. The company will build a strong sales force and plans to hire 10,000 advisors and over 250 frontline sales staff in the current fiscal. The business target for FY10 is an APE of Rs 240 crore with over 110,000 policies.
The company started operations in July 2008 and currently has 52 branches spread across 42 cities, as per the plans for the first year of operation. In FY10, AEGON Religare Life Insurance will continue to focus on building a profitable business and increasing the productivity of each of these 52 branches. The company will continue to grow and expand for the next 3 years.
These aggressive plans will be backed by a capital infusion of Rs 230 crore in the financial year 2009-2010, of which Rs 50 crore has already been infused in April, 2009. This takes the total infused capital as on date to Rs 350 crore.
“Our focus is on building a robust multi-channel distribution system. In addition to our traditional channels, we have the strength of the entire Religare network behind us. Religare is India’s leading integrated financial services company with over 1,100 offices. AEGON Religare Life Insurance will sell its products through Religare’s various arms, i.e. Religare Securities, Religare Finvest Limited, Religare Insurance Broking Limited (RIBL) and Religare Macquarie Wealth Management. Currently, where most insurers are downsizing, cutting costs and closing branches, we see an opportunity in attracting the right talent to further develop our sales force, keeping in line with our strategy for FY10,” said Rajiv Jamkhedkar, CEO, AEGON Religare Life Insurance.
In the first nine months of operation, the company has managed to attract over 23,000 customers and an APE of more than Rs 46 crore. AEGON Religare Life Insurance has a suite of products that are amongst the best and most competitively priced in the industry. It has a complete product basket comprising of 3 term plans, 2 ULIPs, a pension plan and a child plan. 30% of our customers (May, 2009) have bought the AEGON Religare Pension Plan, which was launched in January 2009. In FY10, the company intends launching many innovative products, and will foray into health and annuity product lines.
AEGON Religare Life Insurance is the first Insurance Company (in its first year) to offer its customers 6 different modes to renew a policy. Customers can pay their renewal premium through our IVR, online payment, mobile pay, standing instruction through electronic clearing, branch offices and the company will soon add drop boxes to the list.
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The company’s CRM and Peripheral Systems implementation by Microsoft and Cordys, respectively, have been recognised globally as one of the best and unique implementations in India. The Cordys Peripheral Systems implementation has won AEGON Religare Life Insurance the finalist selection in the Global BPM (Business Process Management) awards for Asia-Pacific region.
The company’s debut advertising campaign ‘Kum Insurance Lene Ki Bimari’ (K.I.L.B.) generated over 55,000 customer calls and has won 2 prestigious advertising awards. The campaign won the Bronze ABBY award for Integrated Marketing Campaign in the Financial Services category. AEGON Religare Life Insurance is the only company to win an award in this category. It also won a Gold at the Outdoor Advertising Convention for the ‘Best Media Plan of the Year – Local’ category. What makes this recognition significant is the fact that the award was for best work amongst all the brands in the country and not limited to financial services.
“Over 2550 of our 27,000 customers already have their 2nd policy with us. This delights us as this is in line with our approach to high levels of customer service and building relationships with our customers,” added Mr Jamkhedkar.
AEGON Religare Life Insurance is the coming together of AEGON, one of the world’s largest life insurance and pension groups and Religare, one of India’s leading integrated financial services groups.
AEGON’s businesses serve over 40 million customers in over 20 markets throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, with major operations in the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. With headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands, AEGON companies employ almost 32,000 people worldwide. The company’s common shares are listed on four stock exchanges: Amsterdam, London, New York and Tokyo. It manages EUR 351 billion in revenue generating investments. AEGON has more than 160 years of experience with its roots going back to 1844. It holds 26% equity in our company. http://www.aegon.com
Religare Enterprises Limited (REL) is one of the leading integrated financial services groups of India. REL's businesses are broadly clubbed across three key verticals, the Retail, Institutional and Wealth spectrums, catering to a diverse and wide base of clients. REL offers a multitude of investment options and a diverse bouquet of financial services with its pan India reach in more than 1835 locations across over 495 cities and towns. REL also currently operates from 10 countries globally following its acquisition of London's oldest brokerage & investment firm, Hichens, Harrison & Co plc. REL holds 44% equity in our company. http://www.religare.in