Non-life players churn top deck

MUMBAI: A host of senior-level changes are in the offing in the general insurance industry. Gaurav Garg is expected to join Tata AIG General Insurance as CEO in place of Michael Carlin who put in papers a couple of months after taking charge. Shrirang Samant, former CEO of HDFC Chubb General Insurance has joined Lloyds of London as their representative in India. Lloyds is expected to open an office in India soon. Mr Garg was formerly head of Tata AIG General Insurance’s personal lines before moving to AIG New York. He will now be returning to take over as managing director. Meanwhile, the search is on for chief executives for Royal Sundaram Insurance and for the public sector United India Insurance. The top position in Royal Sundaram fell vacant after present chief Antony Jacob got larger responsibilities for the region from UK insurer Royal Sun Alliance. The government is engaged in identifying a candidate to replace MK Garg who put in his papers last month. The non-life industry association is also looking for a new CEO for managing the motor insurance pool. Non-life companies are bracing themselves for a fresh round of poaching with several companies planning to set shop this year. The joint ventures include Bharti Axa General Insurance, the joint venture between Future Group (Pantaloon) and Generali of Italy, and Allahabad Bank Sompo joint venture. Shriram Sanlam has already started recruiting a big way Insurance officials are forecasting more changes at senior management level as people leave on account of opportunities created by new entrants. In addition to the already established partnerships a number of new companies are looking at non-life. These include State Bank of India and the Aditya Birla Group. There are also a number of foreign players such as Ergo, IAG of Australia, Berkshire Hathway and a couple of Japanese insurance companies looking at the Indian market. Lloyds of London is planning to open an office in Mumbai soon. Unlike other companies, Lloyds has a different organisational structure. Lloyds recently opened an office in Shanghai to sell reinsurance. Mr Samant, who will represent Lloyds in India, quit HDFC Chubb after HDFC decided to buy out Chubb . over differences over the two partners’ approach to growth.

Source: Times News Network