Following Axis Max Life Insurance's second-quarter results for 2025-26, Sumit Madan, managing director and chief executive officer of the company, speaks to Aathira Varier and Subrata Panda/Business Standard about growth aspirations, strategies to offset the impact of the input tax credit (ITC) withdrawal, reverse merger plans, and more.
'It is not looking at valuation, but investment, growth and ultimately better profit for stakeholders.'
India's corporate bond market, driven by public sector undertaking (PSU) banks and financial institutions last year, is losing momentum since the second quarter of FY26.
'MIB which is a part of retail, will grow in the range of 20 per cent.'
'While we expand into other areas, banca remains our primary channel, and we continue to be a banca-led organisation.'
'The kind of reach it has with so many bank branches even in the remotest part of the country, it is one channel which will play a very important role in vision of insurance for all.'
'India is a big market for StanC, and it is also fastest growing economy in the world.'
'The retail industry is still growing in double digits.'
'$125 million for the hull and the remaining of over $350 million for liability.'
'The brand, the team, and the people have to make the transition from playing league matches to Test matches.'
'Now we have one of the best asset qualities in the industry.'
'Entering India is exciting, but it's also challenging. You have to be prepared for long-term investment.'
'We have opened 100 branches in the last one and a half years. Our manpower is also in place.'
'Health and motor insurance will continue to be our two most important segments'
'However, this process will take some time. Depending on the approval timeline, it may span a few quarters.'
'We have seen something do very well when the times are good but maybe not as well when the times are bad.'
'Margins will be an outcome of that. They will likely remain somewhat range-bound.'
The US Trade Representative noted that India's average applied tariff rate stood at 17% per cent, the highest of any major world economy.
'Within India, people want high-quality, personalised banking services, and the demand for such services has exploded.'
'There has been a change in the advances mix, with the share of corporate loans decreasing.'
'So, we would work with our members to ensure that we as an SRO create some sort of due diligence for fintechs.'
'We do not believe in fire sale. We don't do it.'
'Opportunity is there in each segment of the market. There is opportunity in affordable and specifically governed by government initiatives as well as for housing for all.'
'Covid-related claims were almost 2.5 times the normal claims size.'
With Covid-19 cases across the country rising rapidly once again, demand for health insurance products has spiked. Insurers are seeing an uptick in inquiries for such products and underwriting more premiums in the segment. Already, health insurance was growing at a rapid pace since the onset of the pandemic as awareness around risk had heightened among consumers. But the country recorded more than 600,000 Covid-19 cases in the past week, which is almost a six-fold rise than the previous week. Owing to this, the spike in demand for health insurance products is inevitable, experts said.
'The money is readily available to the depositors.'
RuPay National Common Mobility Card's offline wallet can be used to make ticket payments in transit, including in metros, cabs, etc, enabling automatic, quick, cashless payments.
Mutual funds aspirants have the option of snapping up smaller AMCs or applying for a new licence.
'The overall death claims have gone up.'
'From our perspective, it will bring additional customers and from their perspective, it will get them younger customers.'
Market-linked products have been driving the growth of private insurers for some time now. But, the market volatility has forced the companies to re-think their strategies, reports Subrata Panda.
'The ship has been stabilised.' 'For the last 6-7 quarters, profitability is stable around Rs 250-Rs 300 crore.'
Bankers said they are looking outside the bankruptcy courts and will be able to resolve a few debts in the power sector before January-end.
'Last year (FY21), we had about 1 million intimated claims for Covid.' 'This year (FY22), in six months, we got about 1.6 million claims.'
'There will be partnerships between banks and fintech firms, but there will also be areas where they will be direct competitors.'
These products are extremely transparent and are the lowest charged products in the insurance space. The policyholder has to only pay the fund management charge. Hence, from the cost side, ULIPs are very competitive.
'Had there been no war, maybe, we would come out with a 7.5 per cent stake sale.' 'At this point in time, a 3.5 per cent stake sale looked good.'
'We will be looking to prune our portfolio to make GIC Re a healthier entity.'
'Unless it becomes really a big epidemic in India where a huge number of people are getting sick and lakhs of people dying, I do not see a major impact on the insurance sector.'
The online channel has only been successful in making inroads in metro cities.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances