World-class performance

Chennai: Anuroop 'Tony' Singh, the chief executive officer and managing director of Max New York Life Insurance Company, a 74:26 joint venture between Max India and New York Life International, is a contented man today. The reason: his company has exceeded the expected performance.

Last year the company earned a premium income of Rs 38 crore, selling 64,000 policies besides receiving a handsome income from investments. “We are among the leading life insurance companies with a sum assured in excess of Rs 3,300 crore and over 1,00,000 customers,“ says the beaming former banker.

A qualified chartered accountant, Singh spent most part of his career in the banking industry before joining Max New York Life. He was earlier the country head (India) and the regional head (consumer banking, Middle East and South Asia) for ANZ Grindlays Bank. For five years he was the country general manager for retail banking at Bank of America and prior to that he was with American Express for 15 years in various capacities.

Fully integrating himself with the insurance industry, Singh is also the managing director (South Asia) of New York Life International and is responsible for the development and success of the company's business in South Asia.

The media-savvy Singh attributes his company's initial success to its strategy to offer the right balance between protection and saving rather than the traditional tax saving route: “Early indications suggest that Max New York Life is exceeding its expectations on these parameters and will record an impressive embedded value — shareholders' assets or capital and present value of profits expected in the future from the existing business. And positioning it among the first quartile of new life insurance companies.

Excerpts from an interview: