Gary Bennett, managing director and CEO, Max New York Life, said that the company has drawn up a strategic three-year plan, which will see a doubling of the agency force and branch expansion.
When asked about the growth targets for garnering premium income according to its strategic plan, Bennett said that the company has aggressive plans. He, however, declined to comment on it.
Bennett said the company has adequate capital of Rs 501 crore (Rs 5.01 billion) for the current fiscal and will infuse more capital as and when the business requires it.
Rajesh Sud, executive director (agency, bancassurance and direct sales) Max New York Life, said,
"We are focusing on building its additional arms of distribution and therefore setting up direct sales offices."
The Chennai office is the fourth office in the country after Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
Direct selling is a distribution system where employees distribute life insurance products and Max New York Life expects this to open up new business opportunities and see significant contribution to its sales from this channel. The company has about 2,000 employees.
Max New York Life clocked a premium income of Rs 396 crore (Rs 3.96 billion) in 2004-05 compared to Rs 203.4 crore (Rs 2.03 billion) the previous year.
The insurance company has sold over 6 lakh policies worth Rs 18,300 crore (Rs 183 billion) in the last four years. Of the 54 branch offices, 10 are franchised.
