Harjeet Ahluwalia

New Delhi, April 11: HAVING already roped in 50 corporate clients and a premium of Rs 15 crore in early March, new entrant Iffco Tokio General Insurance will be launching five new products next month.

Chief executive officer Jun Hemmi told The Financial Express here on Wednesday that the company held talks with financial institutions and motor vehicle manufacturers for distribution of personal lines of business.
The company plans to go for a phased launch of its products. The next phase to be initiated two months later would see another five products, and the majority of its product classes ought to be in place by the year-end, he added.

Declining to give details of the new products, Mr Hemmi did indicate that the company had not yet finalised its course of action on targeting rural or urban areas first. The products launched so far were only commercial lines of business, and personal insurance lines would take some time yet.

“Corporate and industrial business comes through direct selling and contacts, whereas personal business needs an agency force”, he pointed out, explaining why the company had not yet gone into overdrive with its publicity.

In his view, new companies would make a difference to the market only if they could stay with low tariffs, especially in the motor lines, and yet deliver efficient and cost-effective customer service. He was also hopeful that once cooperatives are allowed to market insurance, Iffco Tokio would be able to expand its marketing network much faster. New players cannot hope to compete with the public sector companies in terms of workforce, and would need a strong agency force, he averred. “This is not to say we are at a disadvantage in the urban or industrial market, since Iffco has a strong brand presence there as well”, he claimed.

Thus only 30 per cent of its business so far has come from the fertiliser sector. Another 30 per cent of its clients are petrochemical industries and the remaining 40 per cent are Japanese and Korean multinationals and construction companies.

“In fact, we shall launch our publicity campaign only once we have our claims servicing mechanisms in place”, Mr Hemmi asserted. “The response of the initial customers will be critical”, he disclosed, saying that it could make or mar a new company’s reputation. “As partners, with a conservative approach, both Iffco Tokio and its associate, Tokio Marine, are agreed that we should go slow, and position ourselves correctly in the market”, he added.