ING Vysya Life Insurance Pvt Ltd today announced its entry into the Indian insurance sector with the launch of three life insurance products and services.
The company announced that it would be targeting sales of about 2 million insurance policies in its first ten years of operation in the country and expects to break even in the sixth year of its operations.
ING Vysya Life Insurance Pvt Ltd (IVL) is the first operational life insurance company to be headquartered in Bangalore and has started operations in Mumbai and New Delhi also.
ING International BV is one of the biggest names in the insurance industry worldwide with about $585 billion in assets under control has a 26 per cent stake in the company, the maximum permitted by the Government of India. Other partners in the venture are The Vysya Bank Ltd. with a 45 per cent stake and GMR Technologies and Industries Ltd with a 25 per cent stake.
IVL has an initial equity capital of Rs. 110 crores and an authorised capital of Rs 200 crores. Speaking at the launch, IVL CEO and Managing Director, Ton GM van der Star said that the company would introduce products and services which are based on a deep understanding of the consumer.
The Indian market he said was bigger than China and ING was bullish about its operations in the country. "China is a smaller market for life insurance than India because one cannot sell policies in the rural areas. Life insurance products are restricted to cities only" Star said.
Commenting on the distribution and sales development of the company, IVL Deputy Managing Director and President, Yvo Metzelaar, said that the company would grow its present number of 300 advisors to several thousands in the next few year.
IVL is expected to leverage the reach of Vysya Bank's banking network to sell policies and capitalise the brand equity that the bank enjoys in the south.
