Bharti AXA Life Insurance, a private life insurer, is in talks with several large and medium-sized banks as part of efforts to rope in a bancassurance partner, its Managing Director and CEO Vikas Seth said.

“Not having a bank as a partner for distribution of our products was the weakest link in our distribution strategy. We are now trying to correct it. Talks are on with both public and private sector banks for a banca partner,” Seth told BusinessLine in an interaction here.

Bharti AXA Life, which recorded new business premium of over ₹400 crore in 2016-17, is expecting to close the current fiscal with a 20 per cent growth in new business premium.

Seth, who assumed charge as the Managing Director and CEO Bharti Axa Life in November last year, said that scaling up of business operations was the main objective behind pursuing a bancassurance partner.

“We are confident of getting on board a bancassurance partner in 2018-19. The IRDAI move to have a open architecture has provided opportunities for players like us to rope in a banca partner,” he said. Bancassurance is an arrangement by which a bank and an insurance company partner to enable the insurer sell its products to the bank’s client base. Bharti AXA Life, which started its journey in 2007-08, is looking to be in the top ten in the industry in terms of new business premium in the next three years, Seth added.

He also said that the company was open to inorganic growth for achieving its aspiration of getting into the top ten league.

Seth also made it clear that Bharti AXA will continue to be focused on selling traditional products, which account for over 90 per cent of the product mix.

“We believe traditional products is where the major scope is for growth given the low insurance penetration in India,” he said.

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