GLOBAL COMPANIES

The booming domestic insurance market along with saturation of markets in many developed economies has made the India a very attractive destination for global insurance majors. Major global names already having a presence in the Indian market though JVs with Indian firms including French life insurance company Sogecap, US-based American Int. Group (AIG) Max, Tokio Marine and Fire of Japan, Cardiff SA of France, and UK-based Prudential, IAG which has tied up with SBILife.

Some of the other major joint venture companies in this industry are Bajaj Allianz, ING Vysya, AMP Sanmar Assurance Limited, HDFC Standard, Birla Sunlife, Aviva Life Insurance, Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual, Met Life, Royal Sundaram, and ICICI-Lombard among others.

Many more are to soon enter the Indian market:

• The latest entrant has been QBE Holdings (AAP) Pty Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of QBE, Australia which has tied up with Raheja QBE General Insurance Company Limited, a joint venture general insurance company promoted by Prism Cements Limited, India.
• US health insurers, Aetna (a 158-year old company with total revenues for the calendar year 2007 at US$ 27.6 billion and net income at US$ 1.8 billion, is interested in setting up stand-alone health insurance companies.
• CIGNA, another US-based company (a health insurer, and it also provides life, accident, health and expatriate employee benefits insurance coverage in a few international markets) is interested in setting up stand-alone health insurance company.
• UK-based company, Bupa, is also interested in setting up stand-alone health insurance company.
• American company Ace, a leading global commercial property and casualty insurance group, is looking at entering the life and non-life sectors.
• US-based Travelers Group (Travelers is a big underwriter of property and casualty insurance in the US and reported a net written premium of US$ 21.1 billion in 2006 is interested in the non-life sectors. It is planning to sign an agreement with Indian engineering major L&T.