The joint venture will intially have a capital of Rs 100 crore, in which Max India will hold 74 per cent and New York Life will take up the remaining 26 per cent as specified in the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) bill, said Singh. "The nature of the business will make us invest more in the company in the next five years," he added.

The tabling of the IRDA bill in the Lok Sabha last week and the support for insurance-sector reforms among political parties will smooth the way for its safe passage, Singh felt.

The joint venture marks the meeting of style, agility, and business strategy, he said.

"After taking the unfortunate decision to part with `Huchison Max Telecom' some time ago, I am back in Mumbai,'' Singh added. The decision to enter life insurance is part of Singh's long-term vision for the emergence of a new Max, which will be confined to healthcare, life insurance, and information technology. Though the agreement for the new company was signed on Wednesday, the partnership between Max and New York Life is "active and live" for a while now. Addressing a press conference here, Benanav said as a natural synergy, the new life-insurance company would subsequently enter into asset management and pension businesses.

``Profitabilty, products and customer service will be the guidelines for the joint venture's performance,'' said Benanav, adding, India occupies the top rank in the company's Asian business map.

In Asia, New York Life has operations in Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan, and China, and has applied for a licence to enter Phillipines.

New York Life will substantially contribute in business expertise and human resources to prepare world-class insurance products in the country, said Benanav.

Benanav added that the joint venture may, if permitted, seek the partcipation of international financial institutions like the International Finance Corporation and Asian Development Bank.

The company will be able to start its business immediately after it gets a licence from the IRDA in a year's time, said Singh. ``We might be new in this sunrise industry, but we have been learners in whatever we do, and we know how to build the comapny from scratch,'' said Singh. The joint venture will create its own network to sell policies, he said.

New York Life president Micheal J Nocera told The Financial Express the company was happy with its 26 per cent in the joint venture for now, and would like to increase its stake in the days to come, if the Government's policy framework allowed it.

The joint venture will soon conduct a market study to identify potential clients. ``We believe in a tailor-made policy for the different segemnts of the market, which consists of 300 million people.

No two markets where we are operating have the same set of products,'' said Nocera.

Though the company does not have any policies for the rural market, it will be keen to tap it with new specialised products, said Nocera.

The joint venture will follow the Centre's guidelines by investing 75 per cent of the premium income in Government-stipulated investment. Stressing the role of direct-selling, Nocera said his company was number one in the US for direct-selling of insurance policies. Regarding employment opportunities, Nocera claimed the company was able to create 2,000 jobs in Indonesia in one year. It sees a better opportunity in India, he said. The two partners are yet to decide about the location of the headquarters for the venture, and will soon choose a chief executive for the company. Singh had recently pocketed a cool Rs 563 crore by closing one of the biggest deals in corporate India by selling 40 per cent stake in Hutchison Max Telecom to Hutchison Whampoa.