Recently the insurance regulator has come out with stricter guidelines for group covers. How far will this affect your group business and particularly your recently introduced product Apna Life that targets Apna Bazar customers?

The guidelines by the regulator in the initial years are meant for the protection of the consumer's interest and help set the foundation for long- term sustenance of the business. We have always abided by the regulator's guidelines and our product launches adhere to the same. Hence our performance has always been in sync with our business plans. The recent Group Guidelines announced by IRDA are aimed at formalizing the group insurance administration in the industry. It also regulates certain sales practices relating to group insurance products. We feel that these guidelines are aimed at promoting the orderly growth of the Institutional Business and will in fact help us in strengthening the structure of the Apna Life Group Policy.

2. The IRDA has also barred insurers from entering into any MoU's or marketing arrangement for distributing insurance unless the person is licensed by the regulator. How many tie-ups do you have for group insurance? How far will the new rules bring about a change in your business strategies?

In the Group Business we operate though our direct sales team and brokers. At present we have more than150 Group Policies in India. Our policies are dictated by our own legacy of the Institutional business which is 137 years old. Moreover being frontrunners in this sphere in the US where 88 of the top Fortune 500 companies are our clients, we have a fairly good understanding of this business and to that extent we are fully compliant with the law of the land.

3. Insurers now are coming out with unit-linked products that claim to protect the downside when the market tanks out. How costly and risky are these products over the others and should individuals go for these products? Do you plan to introduce any such product?

The capital guarantee products within the ULIP markets are slightly better than the ULIPS where the whole selling proposition was of the upside the consumer could enjoy in the market. With a capital guarantee the customer is assured of at least his initial investment in case of the market tanking.

We espouse the philosophy of need based selling. Hence we believe that a unique basket of products should be tailored to fit an individual's portfolio. While ULIPs work for some people - we advise our customers to create a financial portfolio which is balanced and in line with their risk profile. Moreover the primary task of the insurance product is to provide long term capital preservation and protection. So it is prima facie unfair to look at it as an investment product alone.

We at MetLife are conscious of the market nascence and have always taken care to provide the best for the customer. We were one, if not the first, of companies to come out with Met Ultimate. This product is our interest sensitive universal whole life plan. The product is designed to protect the consumer from the downside for the consumer and at the same time offering him the flexibility of enjoying a possible upside.

Met Ultimate is primarily an interest-linked product which also acts as a bank account. It is a completely transparent and flexible product. Moreover the account is linked to interest rate and our conviction was that an average customer in India relates better to interest rates than to stock market. Considering its unique and flexible features, we are not surprised to see that it is one of our fastest selling products.

4. How far has the FBT affected your group business?

There seems to be some slowdown on group superannuation plans due to FBT compared. Some companies have put on hold their superannuation plans for their employees and there is some hearsay that some others might discontinue with their existing scheme if this tax law does not change in the immediate future. We are still awaiting IRDA approval on our superannuation plan & have not really been affected by it.

5. Do you have products for expats? How different are they when compared with other company products?

Any product can be sold to expatriates of Indian origin. However we do not have any exclusive products targeted at the NRI population right now.

6. Any innovative products in the pipeline?

MetLife has recently launched 2 unit-linked policies after completing its portfolio of traditional products. Work is in progress on certain new products for the market. However, we are unable to share any information at this point in time.

7. What is your premium income garnered in the first quarter?

Our premium income for the time period April- May 2005 - is Rs.100.8 Million. Incidentally, we are the fastest growing company amongst the private players in terms of policies sold.

8. What is your present market share?

Currently on a YTD basis, our market share is about 1.55% of the Private Sector (Group business and Individual Business) for the period April - May 2005. While we are on this subject, we must mention that MetLife has grown at 188% over the same period last year which is much ahead of the market which has grown by 88-130%.

9. Your USP?

MetLife has always promoted and evangelized a need-based selling approach. This is because we believe that there is no 'one-size-fit-all' concept and individuals have their own unique needs. Hence only after a customers' need is analysed, do we suggest a solution for him. This is probably our biggest differentiator. Secondly, right from our inception in India, we have recognized the fact that we were operating in a nascent market where the understanding and relevance of insurance was marginal. In such a scenario we designed simple yet innovative products which typically catered to the masses and till date MetLife, among its peers has the maximum number of non-par products in its product portfolio. After private insurance companies started their operations in India, we have consistently emphasized on educating our customers and to a large extent have succeeded in doing so. So , it was only after a gap of three years we launched our first market linked product was a minimum guarantee which also doubled up as a bank account. Met Ultimate, as this product is called, was the first such product in the market and is also our flagship product.

In the field of service delivery, we invested heavily in IT to take customer service to new heights. Even though we operate out of remote places, policy issuance is now possible even within 48 hours if it's a non medical case. Also, MetLife has a 'call-out' programme whereby customers are contacted to understand whether the product bought is what he/she is actually required. This also helps us determine whether we are compliant with our sales processes.

10. When do you plan to break-even?

The insurance sector has a long gestation period. It can typically take 6-8 years to break even. All our projections at this particular stage shows that if we achieve our sales plan and our premium revenue plan and manage our expenses the way we are projecting it, we should be able to break even on a statutory basis by 2009. And on the basis of that we are tracking our plans and expect that we will fully achieve the target by then.