MAX NEW YORK ENTRAINS RAJDHANIS FOR A BRAND CHUG

New Delhi: Ads on trains are catching up. Max New York Life is the latest company to partner Railways to utilise the exterior as well as interior branding opportunities in the Chennai, Bangalore and Trivandrum Rajdhanis.

Under this arrangement, which would initially be valid for six months, the entire train would be vinyl wrapped in Max New York Life brand colours on the outside and brand signage would be on display inside the train as well. The first such train, Bangalore Rajdhani, was flagged off from Delhi by Mr Rajesh Sud, Deputy Managing Director, Max New York Life Insurance.

The branding exercise as well as provision of better amenity services are being done under a public private partnership initiative of Railways, which had roped in CTS Management (for facilities management) and Peacock Media (advertising rights).

The aim of the PPP is to increase customer service standards for passengers using these Rajdhanis. Speaking on the occasion, the Division Regional Manager, Northern Railways, Mr. Rakesh Saksena, said, “Max New York Life would provide passengers on three routes of the premier Rajdhani Express trains viz., Delhi – Bangalore, Delhi – Chennai & Delhi – Trivandrum with upgraded services like high quality flooring, clean toilets, soap dispensers, tissue paper dispensers, deodorant based toilet flushing system in toilets, automated fragrance dispensers in the compartments and trained housekeeping staff on-board to maintain these services throughout the journey.”

Flagging off the train, Mr Sud said train advertising of this kind was a great platform for brand visibility and interaction with potential customers.

Source: The Hindu Business Line, The Economic Times

LIC BUYS AMRUTANJAN PROPERTY

Chennai: Life Insurance Corporation has acquired a 7-acre property from Amrutanjan Ltd for Rs 110 crore. According to information provided by Amrutanjan Ltd to the stock exchange, the company has sold the property at Egattur, about 20 km from Chennai, on the Old Mahabalipuram Road, to Life Insurance Corporation of India. Amrutanjan, a pharmaceutical company and manufacturers of pain balms of that brand, had a portion of its production facility and R&D facility at Egattur, which it has shifted elsewhere. According to Mr Sambhu Prasad, Managing Director, Amrutanjan Ltd, the company is in the process of finalising an expansion plan.

It is shifting the 20 kilolitre production facility and the R&D centre from Egattur to a new facility at Alathur, where it has a drug intermediate and custom synthesis facility. For LIC, this is the second major acquisition in Chennai over last one year. Last year it acquired a 3-acre property at Pallavaram, a Chennai suburb, from Hindustan Unilever Ltd for over Rs 60 crore. LIC has announced major plans to exploit its existing real estate holdings and add to its property by acquiring prime property in major urban centres. Both the properties were marketed by Cushman & Wakefield, international property consultants.

Source: The Hindu

IRDA MAY BRING BACK CONSULTATIVE PANEL

Kolkata: The consultative committee of the Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (Irda) is likely to be reconstituted under the new chairmanship of J Hari Narayan.

B D Banerjee, managing director of General Insurance Corp, is said to have been inducted into the core group, which advises the regulator on technical and strategic issues.

Industry sources told DNA Money that Banerjee will replace G V Rao, also an industry veteran. Two other existing members on the core committee are C N S Shastri, former managing director, GIC and N Govardhan, former chairman of Life Insurance Corp.

The consultative committee, constituted by the Central government under Section 110 (G) of the Insurance Act, generally has three to four members well-versed with the insurance business and having experience industry experience.

The core group will be consulted on a host of issues. It has the power to remove managerial persons from office should it deem fit.

The committee also has the power to order for additional directors in insurance companies in the interests of the company or of the policyholders.

The committee’s views are also sought on matters relating to directions on reinsurance treaties, which may be detrimental to the insurer or public interest.

The committee’s recommendations will be significant in the wake of the second wave of new players entering the Indian insurance market.

Source: DNA Money

INDIA INFOLINE GETS IRDA NOD FOR INSURANCE BROKING BUSINESS

Mumbai: Leading financial services provider, India Infoline, has received the in-principle approval for its insurance broking business from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA).

Following this, the group is set to start the insurance broking business through its broking subsidiary, India Infoline Insurance Brokers Limited, a company release said here.

The company is the largest corporate agent for leading private-sector life insurer, ICICI Prudential Life, and has assisted over 3 lakh people to avail the insurance cover, India Infoline Group's Chairman, Nirmal Jain, said.

"The license will enable India Infoline to offer customers a broad range of products from multiple Life as well as non-Life Insurance companies.." Jain said.

The company has a network of 758 business locations spread over 346 cities across the country and caters to a customer-base of over 8-lakhs customers, the company said.

Source: PTI, Economic Times

Anil Ambani co plans to roll out home-based health venture

The World Health Organisation (WHO) projects that by 2015, India will face an estimated annual loss in national income of $54 billion on account of chronic diseases

Mumbai: The Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Health Venture Ltd plans to roll out India’s first home-based disease management service through a wholly owned company, Medybiz.
Disease management, a concept popular in developed countries where medical insurance plays a vital role in health care, is a subscription-based business involving a panel of doctors, paramedical staff, diagnostics laboratories and drug supply chains to help patients control the pace of disease progression and enable faster recovery.
Medybiz executives will approach patients at their homes, offering comprehensive packages for disease management, including medical advice, diagnostics, follow-up treatment and medicine supplies. The home-based services will be based on an annual subscription.
Medybiz, which will also offer lifestyle health management services, says it has already appointed 120 executives to sign up subscribers and expects to add 280 more in the next two months, according to a person familiar with the development.
“Our teams of medical specialists are currently finalising the home-based disease management services to address various chronic ailments,” a Medybiz spokesman said. “These home-based programmes have been designed to help people change unhealthy lifestyles that lead to chronic diseases, improve self-care skills during an illness and make cost-effective healthcare decisions.”
The disease management service is in addition to Reliance’s ambitious plans for its health care business. It already runs medical insurance and hospital businesses.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) projects that by 2015, India will face an estimated annual loss in national income of $54 billion on account of chronic diseases. This will rank India as the second-fastest growing health risk economy after China.
Medybiz is finalising its home-based disease management programmes to address chronic ailments such as cancer and diabetes, orthopaedic disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, neurological disorders including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, and respiratory disorders such as asthma, the same person familiar with the development said.
Reeni Edward Kennedy, a housewife in a northern suburb in Mumbai, who has subscribed to the Medybiz service, said proper and strict administration of health care services in the comfort of a patient’s home facilitates quicker rehabilitation and recovery.
“Though we want quality service and continuous monitoring, we are price-sensitive. Therefore, it will purely depends on what Medybiz is going to charge us,” she said.

Source: Livemint

Insurance is no longer men’s call, more women going in for risk cover

Anupama Verma has three insurance policies to her name and in terms of insurance protection, she is far ahead of her husband, who has opted for only one policy. Anupama is one of many women, who are playing an active role in deciding
matters of insurance for their home and family.
Buying insurance no longer remains a forte of men, women are increasingly taking interest in decisions related to getting a risk cover. Insurance firms, gauging the new trend, have shifted the focus of their sales and marketing campaigns on women.
“Women have a higher life expectancy and would need more funds to survive longer. Around 55 per cent of women at the age of 60 years are widows. Hence, they need to invest in insurance and pension plans for a regular income to be self-dependent in their old age,” says Leena Dhankar Joshi, head of life profit centre at Tata AIG Life Insurance. Out of the total 1.4 million customers of Tata AIG, 31 per cent (500,000) are women.
While women form 48 per cent of the population, only around 20 per cent of the life insurance policy owners are women. According to Joshi, women live longer and therefore need better financial cover to handle old age problems.

Sujit Ganguli, senior vice-president and head of marketing at ICICI Prudential Life, says women are now financially more aware and they are getting more involved in the investment process.
“There has been an approximate increase of 50 per cent in the number of women customers in 2007-08,” Ganguli said.
Women focus mainly on child policies, though they are as concerned as men are about other investment decisions of the family, he adds.
“When it comes to purchasing insurance policies, women certainly have an edge over their male counterparts. To begin with, the premiums that they pay for a given policy are lower than what men of the same age pay,” a Delhi-based insurance broker said.
Roughly women purchase about 35 -40 per cent of our policies, and those in the age group of 25-35 years constitute the highest percentage, he
adds.
If you consider the proportion of women employed in urban areas in relation to the total number of women employed, the percentage of those insured does not appear as low as it does in isolation.
With the emergence of a vast middle class characterised by high levels of education and urban living, women are making more and more insurance decisions and this trend will only increase.

Source: Financial Chronicle