MAX New Yark Life Opened DSD
Max New York Life is in expansion mode having done a business of Rs 1,330 crore in the first eight months of 2008. Against Rs 1,424 crore business done in 2007, it has set a target of Rs 2,500 crore for the current calendar year. Speaking to reporters after opening the first direct sales distribution (DSD) office at Coimbatore, director and head, Bancassurance & DSD, V Vishwanand said the company plans to open 700 offices by March 2009. Its target is to have 1,600 offices across the country by 2011.Currently, there are 408 offices across 261 cities, which includes 23 offices dedicated to Direct Sales Distribution. He said emerging trends like retail boom, mobile telephony, internet boom have led to starting own distribution offices. “Moreover, there is no guarantee that the agents will remain with us forever,” he added. However, the company will continue to focus on increasing the number of agents,” Mr Vishwanand said. Currently, there are 54,000 agents in the country. “We hope to increase it to 75,000 by December this year and our target is 3.5 lakh agents by 2011,” he added.
“Agency channel continues to be major contributor for sales. Our tie-ups with banks and strategic partnerships are contributing to increased sales. DSD would complement the existing agency distribution channel and help us reach larger population,” Mr Vishwanand said, adding the DSD will mainly concentrate on repeat customer sales. Currently, DSD contributed to 7% of company’s sales. “We hope it will grow to 10% by this year end,” Mr Vishwanand said. On the market trend, he said despite the heavy stock market fluctuation in the last two months, market was good for the long-term ULIPs of Max New York Life .
