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The US-based global health-service leader Cigna Corporation has initiated the process of increasing its stake in CignaTTK Health Insurance (CignaTTK), a top official of the Indian joint venture said.
“Cigna is committed to increasing its stake to 49 per cent from 26 per cent now. The process has started,” Sandeep Patel, CEO and Managing Director, CignaTTK, told BusinessLine here.
This standalone health insurer, which started its journey two years back, is now aiming at cash-flow breakeven by March 2019, Patel said.
“We have a good track record outside of India. In China, we achieved breakeven in three years. Thailand we did it in five. In Indonesia we did it in four years,” he said.
Currently, CignaTTK is capitalised at close to ₹400 crore. In 2015-16, the health insurer had recorded new business premium of ₹144 crore.
Online business accounts for 9-10 per cent of new business premium.
Patel said that Cigna is in the Indian market for the long term and sees this country as a big market opportunity.
“We are committed to this market both from the organic and inorganic perspective. We will continue to introduce new products and help the Indian market evolve,” he said.
In the next few years, the company will require additional capital worth ₹400-500 crore, Patel said.
He also said that CignaTTK would foray into group business this year and focus on SME segment.
Patel said CignaTTK wants to enter into the ‘top three’ club in the next couple of years. As on date, there are only five standalone health insurers, including CignaTTK.
Patel felt that consumers need to view health insurance as a long-term relationship between “you (consumers) and the health insurance company.”
“They (consumers) should be viewing it that way just as the companies. Then your risk management perspective changes.”
CignaTTK, which operates out of 40 cities in the country, has about 13,000 agents representing the company. Patel said that CignaTTK is in talks with private as well as public sector banks for more bancassurance tie-ups. “The public sector banks window has just opened for us. There are a couple of RFPs (request for proposals) that we are now responding to,” he said.
With most public sector banks stipulating a minimum two years of operations, CignaTTK has just (from April 1) met this eligibility norm.
As on date, this health insurer has bancassurance tie-ups with Lakshmi Vilas Bank and Saraswat Bank besides others in the private sector space.
Insurance regulator IRDAI had recently amended bancassurance regulations to allow banks to expand the number of tie-ups with insurers.
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