Says OMKM managing director Shivaji Dam: “Life insurance companies increase their capital to take care of their growing business. As the company underwrites more risk, prudent capital adequacy norms require us to add more capital. Our business is growing and so our promoters, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Old Mutual, are supporting us with an increase in capital.”

Says Old Mutual Financial Services Plc deputy chairman Hasan Askari: “In bringing additional capital we are demonstrating our long-term trust and commitment to our customers and our confidence in the Indian insurance market. We have great hopes for our Indian joint venture and will support its growth with both resources and capital.”

Old Mutual is one of the world’s leading insurance companies with an asset base of over $208 billion and a 26-per cent stake in OMKM.

OMKM was one of the early entrants in the life insurance business having started operations a little less than two years ago with three products. The company has since sold more than 40,000 policies and issued policies covering more than Rs 1,000 crore of the total sum assured.

Today it offers 12 products of which the most recently launched is Kotak Preferred Retirement Solutions. Their array of products also includes three group policies and one rural policy. A number of attractive riders are offered on these policies.

The company has been following a strategy of introducing innovative products with unique features. Its Preferred Term Plan is the only life insurance policy that offers lower premiums for non-tobacco users and women. OMKM was also one of the first companies to introduce retirement planning products in India.

Its Capital Multiplier Plan works in two phases — the build-up phase and the payout phase. During the build-up of the retirement corpus, the policyholder can bring in lump sum injections to bolster his retirement corpus from time to time. This allows self-employed professionals to create a pool of retirement savings with the convenience of being able to bring in money whenever they have it. In an innovative marketing exercise, OMKM has also offered cover under its Term Group Insurance Plan to customers of Kotak Mutual Fund’s Bond Fund.

OMKM is a joint venture between Old Mutual plc, UK, and the recently formed Kotak Mahindra Bank (previously Kotak Mahindra Finance). With a principal sponsor of the company becoming a bank, it is expected that the company will enjoy even greater customer confidence, since most financial services customers in India tend to turn to banks for reliability and trust.