by NR INDRAN / INT

Magma Fincorp Ltd (‘Magma’), a leading NBFC, today announced the launch of business for Magma HDI General Insurance Co Ltd (MHDI), a joint venture with HDI Gerling, a leading German insurer. Business launch was jointly announced by Mr Sanjay Chamria, Chairman, MHDI and Mr Jens Wohlthat, Vice Chairman at a glittering ceremony held in Kolkata in the presence of members of the board and other senior staff. MHDI is the first private general insurance company to be headquartered in Eastern India.

Addressing the media Mr Sanjay Chamria, Chairman of MHDI said, the new company will leverage the strengths of the JV Partners to offer customized services to its customers in India. Over 80% of Magma’s 240 branches are located in the semi-urban and rural areas, which are generally underserved markets for insurance products. MHDI will remain consistently focused on servicing the needs of the customers located in such markets thereby furthering the cause of financial inclusion, he added.

Mr Jens Wohlthat, Director of HDI-Gerling and Vice Chairman of MHDI, elaborating the role the company has been playing in Europe and Latin America, said, through MHDI, HDI-Gerling will introduce its unique product design and cost efficient operational management skills apart from offering an excellent reinsurance platform which would help manage insurance risks appropriately. The HDI-Gerling Global Network allows foreign units of HDI-Gerling customers to be insured in more than 130 countries within the International Insurance Programmes. Primary insurance units of the Talanx Group are available in 38 countries to provide this insurance, and network partners are based in another hundred countries. Mr Wohlthat also said, the joint venture in India with Magma is part of HDI-Gerling’s and Talanx’s global expansion plans. “The product expertise and emerging market experience of HDI-Gerling is expected to complement the trust and confidence that Magma enjoys with its customers and is expected to enable introduction of insurance products to this segment of India”, he added.

Mr. Swaraj Krishnan, an Insurance Industry veteran and CEO of Magma HDI added that the Company would endeavor to implement the highest standards of servicing to ensure affordable products at a great value for money and thereby ensure customer delight”. He further added that the company will launch operations in 39 locations in the first year and would recruit about 500 people. The top management is already on board and thus business roll out will be smooth, he added.

The launch of the general insurance business enables Magma to offer a comprehensive end to end solution to its customers by financing the purchase of cars, tractors, commercial vehicles or construction equipment as well as providing insurance to the asset purchased.

Magma is a non-deposit taking non-banking finance company (NBFC), registered with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as an Asset Finance Company. The Company, having started operations over two decades back, is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange Limited and the National Stock Exchange in India.

Magma provides a bouquet of financial products including financing of Utility Vehicles & Cars, Commercial Vehicles, Construction Equipment, Tractors and SME Loans. Magma has a dedicated “live” base of over 3 lac customers and has assets of Rs. 13750 crores under management. The company has over 240 branches in 20 states and 1 union territory and employs more than 6700 people.

HDI-Gerling is part of Talanx Group. Talanx was the third-largest German insurance Group and the eleventh-largest European insurance group in 20111 (based on gross written premium). In 2011, Talanx generated premium income of approximately EUR 23.7 billion. Talanx operates as a multi-brand provider. Its brands include HDI, HDI-Gerling, Hannover Re, one of the world’s leading reinsurers by premium volume, Targo Versicherungen, PB Versicherungen, Neue Leben and the financial services provider AmpegaGerling. With the recent acquisitions of TU Europa Group and TUiR Warta S.A., Poland has become Talanx’s second home market. The Hannover-based Group is active in about 150 countries. The rating agency Standard & Poor’s has given the Talanx Primary Group a financial strength rating of A+/stable (strong) and the Hannover Re Group one of AA-/stable (very strong).

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