APAC Issue 1 2018

APAC / Issue 1 2018 7 , 1710AP05 Edelweiss Tokio Life leads product innovation in Indian Insurance Market Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance is the first of a new generation of insurance companies, creating its Insurance solutions around a deep understanding of the diverse financial needs of the Indian consumer. DeepakMittal, MD and CEO, talks us through the firm, which has been named as one of our 2017 Leading Business Awards. Established in 2011, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance has been the latest entrant in the life insurance industry. However, in a short span of time, it has emerged as a serious competitor to other firms in the sector with its innovative and unique products. Deepak discusses its service offering in more detail and explores how the firm has worked hard to achieve the success it enjoys today. “At Edelweiss Tokio, everything that we do revolves around the value it brings to our customers. All our decisions, products and services are designed using the value stream map it brings to the end consumer. Any pursuit that we undertake is pure to augment value, proposition, services, and satisfaction to the customer. It is this defining philosophy, which enables us to create products, recognized in industry forums and practices. In addition to the accolade of being given the title of “Best Life Insurer” by Outlook money awards 2016. As one of the latest entrants in the insurance industry, the pursuit is continuous to question status quo, reduce the learning curve and achieve competitive and best in class services “As part of our client focused approach, we have always been looking for the unique propositions for our customers, and a recent example of that was the approval by IRDA to sell a point of sale life insurance product. We have been the first life insurer to get such an approval which allows a customer to buy insurance at an affordable premium over the counter in just a few minutes. The purpose of introducing such a product is to give access to life insurance to a more extensive section of the society, thereby increasing insurance penetration in India. With such products and several others, Edelweiss Tokio Life continues its practice of offering differentiated solutions to its customers.” Recently the firm’s focus has been on adapting around the digitalisation it sees in the market, as Deepak highlights. “Over recent years Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance has almost doubled its network from around 10,400 agents in 2015 to 21,500 agents in 2017. This resource expansion has enabled us to service our customers in a better and more personalized manner. Insurance has been an under- penetrated sector, and there is a significant scope for growth. Hence, in spite of a large number of players in the industry, there is an ample scope for every player to co-exist and still gain big. The growing Indian economy along with increasing awareness for the insurance products as protection and investment plans will be the future growth drivers for the life insurance sector. With our unique and customer-focused product offerings, we believe that Edelweiss Tokio is well geared to make the most of the opportunity. “With the Digital India theme in focus, the online space is offering exciting opportunities and is growing at a much faster pace. Further, with the elimination of intermediaries in the online products, the customers are also beneficiaries regarding cheaper insurance. Our focus has been on providing a superior experience to our customers through our web interface, be it for acquiring a new business or servicing the existing customers. Digital India theme is, in fact, emerging to be a game changer especially for new-age players like us since it provides us with exposure to the much broader audience than before. We have been one of the fastest growing players in the industry and are fully geared to capture the opportunities in the times to come as well.” Although Deepak is the CEO and helps lead the company to the success it enjoys today, he is keen to emphasise the fact that his team is the driving force behind the exceptional market position Edelweiss Tokio as achieved in a relatively short time.