Mahesh Balasubramniam, MD and CEO expects Kotak General Insurance to close the year with a turnover of Rs. 180-200 crore and about 60% of the business has come from the Bank customers.
Pointing out that business was more about ‘claims settlement’ rather than ‘premium gathering’, Mahesh said that the KGI would aim at keeping the combined ratio (a performance metric that includes claims, acquisition cost and operating costs) under control and bringing it to below 100 % at the earliest.
Mahesh says the focus will be predominantly on motor and health, the two main lines of business in the general insurance industry which is growing at their fastest pace. The emphasis is on having a simple suite of products that are easy to understand and facilitate ease of business, he said.
He was categorical that the company would avoid crop insurance, a segment that saw the maximum growth during the past year. It remains unclear whether the claims experience bears out the viability of the portfolio for the industry. KGI would, therefore, wait a bit more, he said.
There has been a capital infusion of Rs. 40 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal taking the capital base of the company to Rs. 175 crore and this should cover the requirements for the immediate future, he said.
