A

SUMMER TRAINING REPORT ON

Marketing Strategies
& Customer Relationship Management of Max New York Life
Bachelors of Business Administration (Session 2008-2010)

Submitted to: Delhi Institute of Rural Development

collage

Under the Guidance of

Mr. Rajiv Dhall (Sales Manager)

Submitted By:
Deepanti arora Enrollment No. 1351241708

PREFACE

The liberalization of the Indian insurance sector has been the subject of much heated debate for some years. The policy makers where in the catch 22 situation wherein for one they wanted competition, development and growth of this insurance sector which is extremely essential for channeling the investments in to the infrastructure sector. At the other end the policy makers had the fears that the insurance premier, which are substantial, would seep out of the country; and wanted to have a cautious approach of opening for foreign participation in the sector.

As one of the rare occurrences the entire debate was put on the back burner and the IRDA saw the day of the light thanks to the maturing polity emerging consensus among factions of different political parties. Though some changes and some restrictive clauses as regards to the foreign participation were included the IRDA has opened the doors for the private entry into insurance.

Whether the insurer is old or new, private or public, expanding the market will present multitude of challenges and opportunities. But the key issues, possible trends, opportunities and challenges that insurance sector will have still remains under the realms of the possibilities and speculation. What is the likely impact of opening up Indias insurance sector.

It was a privilege for us to work in a reputed organization- Max New York Life Insurance. This has given us an opportunity to work in a truly professional environment where team work score over individual effort, where there is a helpful atmosphere. A well planned, properly executed and evaluated training helps a lot in inoculating good work culture. It provides linkage between student and industry in order to develop the awareness of individual approach to problem solving based on the broad understanding of plant machinery, process and mode of operation of individual organization. The project on Marketing Strategies of Max New York Life has been made to facilitate effective understanding about then marketing aspects.

The project training has provided me an opportunity to gain practical experience, which has helped me to increase my sphere of knowledge to a greater extent. I have tried to summarize all our experience and knowledge acquired up till now, in this report. This project is a keen effort to obtain the expected results and fulfill all the information required.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
When we do anything, we always want to thank all those people who have left an impression on our lives and inspired us to greatness. Before we got things I would like to add a few heartfelt words for the people who were part of this project in numerous ways. It gives me great pleasure, having done a project on an interesting and knowledgeable topic like Marketing strategies and Customer Relationship Management of Max New York Life. Marketing Management and Human resources are topics which demand for in depth study and a lot of dedication and hard work. This project has been a great experience. This project has immensely enlarged my knowledge as far as academics are concerned. There are many people associated with this project without which this project would not have reached its successful completion. I acknowledge with deep gratitude and respect to the placement Incharge Mr. Saranjeet Singh for providing me support for my project. I would like to thank Mr. Ritesh Arrora (Branch Manager, MNYL) who permitted me to do this project in Max New York Life successfully. I would like to thank to Mrs. Parneet Kaur Virk (Sales Manager, MNYL) for her inspiration, keen interest, constant supervision and ever willing help throughout the course of this study.

My sincere gratitude to training manager Mr. Tarun Prakash for his valuable guidance, encouragement, useful suggestion, critical evaluation and unending support which helped us accomplishes the project. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the people of the firm I contacted who took out valuable time to answer my queries and gave me full information about the insurance industry and Max New York Life.

Declaration

I hereby declare that the project report entitled Marketing Strategies of Max New York Life Insurance is the produce of my sincere effort. This Summer Internship Project Report is being submitted by me alone, at MMIM, Maharishi Markandeshwar University, Mullana (Ambala) for the partial fulfillment of the course MBA, and the report has not been submitted to any other educational institutions for any other purpose.

Date: Signature

Index

S. No. Particulars
1. 2. 3. Executive Summary Introduction Company Profile Introduction of Company Vision Mission Values Promoters Achievements & Awards 4. Research Methodology analysis

Page No.

Scope of Research Period of study Types of Research Framework of

 study 5. Business Concept Evaluation 1 Industry Competitive Strategy Insurance Industry each player market share be Different from others Evaluation 2 of the firm marketing Firm 6. 7. 8. 9. Findings Conclusion Recommendations Suggestions

Limitations of the

Players in the Generic Present Scenario of Market share of Trends in the MNYL attempted to

Marketing objective The 4 Ps of Valuation of the

10.

Bibliography

Executive Summary

Life is full of surprises, some pleasant and some not so pleasant. Our families and we have to live with these uncertainties. Preparing for the uncertainties of life is what Insurance is all about. Why waste precious moments contemplating tomorrow, when we have to live today? Insurance is a tool, a solution for delegating the worries concerning tomorrow onto a trustworthy institution so that you can start living today.

In other words, Insurance is a legal contract that protects people from the financial costs that result from Loss of life, loss of health, lawsuits, or property damage. Insurance provides a means for individuals and societies to cope with some of the risks faced in everyday life. People purchase contracts of insurance, called policies, from a variety of insurance organizations. Almost everyone living in modern, industrialized countries buys insurance, for instance, laws in most states require people who own a car to buy insurance before driving it on public roads. Lenders require anyone who finances the purchase of a home or car with borrowed money to insure that property. Business partners take out life insurance on each other to make sure that business will succeed even if one of the partners dies. The primary purpose of life insurance is therefore protection of the family in the event of death. Today, insurance is also seen as a tool to plan effectively for the future years, retirement, and for children's future needs. Today, the market offers insurance plans that not just cover the life and but at the same time grow wealth too. When we insure our life, in effect what we are doing is insuring our earning capacity. This guarantees that our dependants will be able to continue living without financial hardships even in case of our demise. In todays corporate and competitive world, I find that insurance sector has the maximum growth and potential as compared to the other sectors. Insurance has the maximum growth rate of 70-80% while as FMCG sector has maximum 12-15% of growth rate. This growth potential attracts me to enter in this sector and MAX NEW YORK LIFE INSURANCE has given me the opportunity to work and get experience in highly competitive and enhancing sector.

The success story of good market share of different organizations depends upon the availability of the product and services near to the

customer, which can be distributed through marketing or distribution channel. In Insurance sector, marketing is done by faith. If a company like MAX NEW YORK LIFE, BAJAJ ALLIANZ, TATA AIG, etc has adequate potential to make faith in their customers they can capture big market as compared to the other companies.

Marketing is the best way for a company of Insurance sector through which policies and benefits of the company can be explained to the customer.

Introduction

During my summer training in the Max New York Life Insurance Company (MNYL), I have gotten the work of marketing of companys products to the customers who visit the max office or to those also, that are not directly related to the company. In the company my department was marketing in which my work was to market Max New York Life Insurance to potential customers or to make a mindset of customers to buy the companys product. The main focus area of the

company is to recruit more and more financial consultant who brings business in the company as well as market its products in those areas where the insurance is not reached. The main motive of this project is to make more and more customers through competitive marketing strategies.

MNYL is one of Indias leading private insurance companies. It offers both individual and group insurance solution. It is a joint venture between Max India Limited and New York Life Insurance Company, a fortune 100 company.

I have chosen insurance sector as the place for summer training because in these days this sector is in boom and it will never go down. All people invest their money in insurance and get more benefited. In the sector the work of marketing is more challenging then the other sector because there is 21 insurance companies in the market who are giving competition to each other and the work of convince people for investment in respective company is a challenging work and success in the sector proves that the respective person is a good marketer. Today insurance sector India is on boom because all people want to invest. Those who dont know about investment in share market and dont want to invest in mutual funds they invest in insurance sector. Insurance sector gives them investment plus risk cover. Those who dont want to take risk in the investment go to insurance sector. It also gives income tax benefits to the people. Insurance company are now launching ULIP plan and gives chance to the investor to choose their investment pattern according to their fund investment

table. This fund investment tells us that how much the investor want to take risk. Generally in the ULIP plan, the thesis is that The more you risk the more you have profit.

COMPANY PROFILE

Max New York Life Insurance Company Ltd. is a joint venture between Max India Limited, one of India's leading multi-business corporations and New York Life International, the international arm of New York Life, a Fortune 100 company. The company has positioned itself on the quality platform. In line with its vision to be the most admired life insurance company in India, it has developed a strong corporate governance model based on the core values of excellence, honesty, knowledge, caring, integrity and teamwork.

Incorporated in 2000, Max New York Life started commercial operation in 2001. In line with its values of financial responsibility, Max New York Life has adopted prudent financial practices to ensure safety of policyholder's funds. The Company's paid up capital as on 30th April, 2009 is Rs 1782 crores.

Max New York Life has multi-channel distribution spread across the country. Agency distribution is the primary channel complemented by partnership distribution, bank assurance, alliance marketing and dedicated distribution for emerging markets. The Company places a lot of emphasis on its selection process for agent advisors, which comprises four stages: Screening, Psychometric test, Career seminar and Final interview. The agent advisors are trained in-house to ensure optimal control on quality of training. The company currently has around 92,760 agent advisors at 710 offices across 385 cities. The company also has 36 referral tie-ups with banks, 24 partnership distribution and alliance marketing relationships each. Max New York Life has put in place a unique hub and spoke model of distribution to deepen our rural penetration. This is the first time such a model

has been put in place for rural marketing of insurance. The company has 133 offices dedicated to rural areas. Max New York Life offers a suite of flexible products. It now has 37 products covering both life and health insurance and 8 riders that can be customized to over 800 combinations enabling customers to choose the policy that best fits their need. Besides this, the company offers 6 products and 7 riders in group insurance business. The company currently has more than 13,923 employees.

VISION
To become one of the most admired life insurance Company of India.

MISSION

Become one of the top quartile life insurance companies in India Be a national player Be the brand of first choice Be the employer of choice Become principal of choice for agents

VALUES

Knowledge Knowledge leads to expertise; and our expertise is in helping people protect them. Perfectly combining global expertise with local knowledge, we are India's life insurance specialist. Max New York Life believes that for knowledge to be of value it must be focused, current, tested and shared.

 Caring Max New York Life is redefining the life insurance paradigm by focusing on customers first. The service process is responsive, personalized, humane and empathetic. Every individual who represents the company is for us our brand champion. Honesty Honesty is the heart of the life insurance business. It is all about trust. Transparency, integrity and dependability form the cornerstones of the Max New York Life experience. The company ensures that everyone who represents the brand carries a promise: we care in word as well as deed. Excellence Excellence at Max New York Life implies the ability to perform at a consistently high level. Focused on the value of continuous improvement in people, processes and the organization, the company strives for the highest standards of quality in every aspect of its business.

Promoters

Max India Ltd.

Founded in 1985,
Max India Limited

is a Public Limited company listed on the

NSE and BSE of India with over 26,000 shareholders. Today, Max India Limited is a multi-business corporate, driven by the spirit of Enterprise, focused on Knowledge, People and Service oriented businesses of: Healthcare (Max Healthcare)

 Life Insurance (Max New York Life Insurance) Clinical Research (Neeman Medical International)

Max also maintains Interests in:

Specialty Plastic Products for the packaging industry (Max Specialty Products) Healthcare Staffing (Max Health Staff) In 2000, the Company reinvented and restructured itself to focus on the businesses of Life under them the, LifeOur Focus. Max Healthcare, a subsidiary of Max India Limited is Indias first provider of comprehensive, standardized, seamless, and integrated world-class healthcare services. Neeman Medical International (NMI) is an International Clinical Research provider operating across three locations spanning North America, Asia and Latin America. Each location is backed by comprehensive infrastructure and highly skilled and experienced personnel.

New York Life

New York Life Insurance Company, (www.newyorklife.com) a Fortune 100 company founded in 1845, is the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States and one of the largest life insurers in the world. Headquarter in New York City, New York Lifes family of companies offer life insurance, annuities and long-term care insurance. New York Life Investment Management LLC provides institutional asset management and retirement plan services. Other New York Life affiliates provide an array of securities products and services, as well as institutional and retail mutual funds.

The mission of New York Life is to maintain its superior 'financial strength', adhere to the highest standards of 'integrity' and demonstrate 'humanity' by treating its customers, agents and employees with compassion, consideration and respect. New York Life is one of the largest and strongest life insurance companies in the world with more than USD$215 billion assets under management and has received among the highest ratings for financial strength from the life insurance industry's principal rating agencies: A.M. Best (AA+), Standard & Poor's (AA+), Moody's (Aa1), Fitch (AAA). According to Moody's, "New York Life's rating reflects the company's good quality investment portfolio, ample liquidity, and sound capitalization, as well as the good growth potential of its international business. As a leader in the insurance industry, New York Life continues to bring to its operations new management concepts, advanced technologies, new distribution and training systems and innovative insurance products.

Achievements and Awards

Some of the Industry Firsts
First company to provide free look period of 15 days to the customer. This was later made mandatory by the regulator. First company to start toll free line for agent services. First and the only life insurance company in India to implement Lean methodology of service excellence in service industry. First life insurance Company in India to provide various services to the agents and customers over phone.

 First Indian life insurance Company to start service center at the regional level. First life insurance Company in India to be awarded ISO 9001:2000 certifications.

Awards
Outlook Money survey ranked MNYL No.1 in Slow, Medium and Quick fund categories. BT Mercer Ranked No7 in the Best companies to Work For. Awarded the Gallup Great Work Place Award 2009. CII Exim Bank Commendation Certificate for Business Excellence 2008 Recognized as a Super brand Recipient of 2008 CIO 100 Award for technology implementation Golden Peacock Award for Innovation 2008 Among the top 25 companies to work for in India, according to Business world 2003 Great Workplaces of India Among the top five most respected insurance companies in India as per Business world 2004 & 2006 survey Won Indo-American Corporate Excellence Award for Best Indo-US company in Financial Services Category in 2006 Received Best Six Sigma Project award at Sakal Six Sigma Excellence Awards 2006 Among top 3 in Asia Life Insurance Company of the Year Award 2007 instituted by Asia Insurance Review Received the Amity Corporate Excellence Award 2007 Received the Outlook Money Award for being among the best new insurers in the country. First life insurance Company to be awarded CII-Exim Bank Commendation Certificate for Strong Commitment to Excel - 2008.

Research Methodology

THE SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH:

Development of industries depends on several factors such as financial, technology, quality of the services and social responsibility. Out of these, marketing aspects assume a significant role in determining the growth of industries. All of the organization operation virtually affects its need for cash that create aims to explore this product.

PERIOD OF STUDY:
The period of the study for this project covers six weeks i.e. from June 19, 2009 to July 31, 2009. Further, six week period is a reasonable period to study the performance of target person and to gain knowledge with respect of insurance industry.

TYPES OF THE RESEARCH:

It is a descriptive research and the main objective of descriptive research is to learn about who, what, when and how. It includes study and fact finding inquiries of different kinds. Thus the major purpose of descriptive research is the description of the state of affairs, as it exits at present.

FRAMEWORK OF ANALYSIS:
The study has been undertaken to examine and understand the marketing aspect for a business playing a crucial role in the growth. The framework of study concern with structure of marketing channel.

Limitation of the Study:

Throughout the study utmost care has been taken to avoid biases, errors so as to ensure authenticity and accuracy. But there is possibility for some discrepancies to come in between due to following limitations: Respondents may give their biased opinion, as they know the identity of Management Trainee. Since the project had to be completed within six weeks, it was too short time to convert the prospective advisors.

 Since the study involved a through analysis of the insurance market and relative study of various players offering the similar products and that of similar, it required a dedicated labor in term of both time and effort. Since the curriculum did not permit more time, the study had to be very limited. Assumption is made that views and suggestion given by the respondent are his factual knowledge about information. The study is not free from communication error. My study is based on responses of client and guidance of corporation only, which may not give a true picture. Last but not the least and the most deciding factor paucity of time.

Objective of Study
The main purpose of this project is to identify the trends, progress and performance of marketing channel in insurance industry. Deregulation in India has resulted in increased number of players in the market and hence the competition. This competition has brought about a change in the existing distribution channels. The new types of distribution channels are wider and are expected to be more technology oriented for the urban population in future. There also exists

a vast potential for new types of companies coming into the market that support the existing structure of the industry such as agency management systems and the brokerage firms.

The following are the primary objective of study:

To find prospects for appointing them as insurance advisors. To target the groups of people who can do well as insurance advisors and be beneficial to the company in bringing prospective clients. To understand the functioning of an insurance company. To know the origin and history of life insurance companies. To gain experience in different environment with different people. At the same time to show the integration of the various business processes.

Business Concept
Evaluation 1 Players in the industry:
Life Insurance Corporation of India Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) came into existence on 1st September 1956 through the amalgamation of 154 Indian insurance companies, 16 non-Indian companies and 75 provident. The

amalgamation was achieved with the help of Life Insurance Act passed by the Parliament in the same year. The LIC was created with the goal of reaching all the insurable people in the country and providing them financial coverage at a reasonable price. In the year 1956, LIC had 5 zonal offices, 33 divisional offices and 212 branch offices. With time there was a need for a branch office at every district headquarter and many branches were opened, which raised the pace of the organization. LIC now has 2048 fully computerized branch offices, 100 divisional offices, 7 zonal offices and the corporate office. At present, online premium collection facility is being offered in selected cities as LIC has tied up with some banks and service providers. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Limited Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Limited is a joint venture between Bajaj Auto Limited and Allianz AG of Germany. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance came into existence on 2nd May 2001; Bajaj Auto has a share of 74%, whereas Allianz has the remaining 26%. The premium income of the company as on 31st March 2006 was Rs. 1285 crores, whereas the profit after tax made was Rs. 52 crores. Bajaj Allianz has a Pan India network covering over 100 towns from Jammu to Thiruvananthapuram and aims to spread its operations in many other cities. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company ICICI Prudential is a joint venture between ICICI bank and Prudential plc, both having strong operations in their respective countries. ICICI bank is one of the leading banks in India providing quality financial services and Prudential is an international financial service provider headquartered at United Kingdom. ICICI and Prudential have respective shares of 74% and 26%. The Company started operating in December 2000. Currently, total capital with the company is Rs. 18.15 billion.

It has a network of 450 branches, over 1, 50,000 insurance advisors and 18 banc assurance partners. Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited (BSLI) is a joint venture between Aditya Birla Group and Sun Life Financial Inc. BSLI started functioning in March 2001 after getting the certificate of registration from IRDA. Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited introduced unit Linked Life Insurance Solutions in India. Within a short span of time it was able to establish itself as a leading player in the Private Life Insurance Industry. TATA AIG General Insurance Tata AIG General Insurance Company Ltd. is a joint venture between Tata Sons and American International Group, Inc. (AIG). The Tata Group is holding 74 per cent stake and the rest 26 percent is held by AIG. The company has got the expertise, knowledge and strength of both the organizations. Tata AIG General Insurance Company was founded on January 22, 2001. It offers general insurance in various categories, such as automobile, home, personal accident, travel, energy, marine, property and casualty and specialized financial solutions. HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Limited HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Limited is one of the first companies to be licensed by IRDA to operate in the Insurance sector. The company came into existence on 14th August 2000. Both Crisil and ICRA have honored it with AAA Ratings. Similarly Moody's and Standard and Poors have also honored it AAA ratings. HDFC holds 81.4% share in HDFC and the remaining 18.6% stake is with Standard Life. It integrates the strong expertise and stability of Standard Life and HDFC.

Aviva Insurance

Aviva Insurance dates back to 1834 in India. It was the largest foreign insurer in India at the time of nationalization and was the first foreign insurance company to set up a representative office back in 1995. Aviva Life Insurance Company is UK's largest insurance group and at fifth position globally. In India, Aviva Life Insurance Co Pvt. Ltd is a 26:74 joint venture between Aviva and Dabur India. Aviva is accredited to the introduction of Banc assurance in India

ING Vysya Life Insurance Company Limited

ING Vysya Life Insurance Company Limited established in India in 2001. It has 140 branches and its head office is in Bangalore. ING Vysya is a joint venture between the worlds second largest life insurance company ING Insurance and one of the largest private sector banks Vysya Bank.

Kotak Mahindra Insurance Company

Kotak Mahindra Insurance Company or Om Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance is a 74:26 joint venture between Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited India and Old Mutual PLC- a leading global financial services provider. Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited (KMBL) is the flagship venture of Kotak Mahindra Group. The group is a full-services financial group providing a wide array of services and products to institutions, banks, corporate and individuals. Kotak Mahindra has overseas offices in New York, London and Dubai.

MetLife India Insurance Company Private Limited

MetLife India Insurance Company Private Limited was incorporated in April 2001 as a joint venture between MetLife International Holdings,

Inc., The Jammu and Kashmir Bank, M. Pallonji and Co. Private Limited and other private investors. MetLife India insurance company is a subsidiary of US based metropolitan life insurance company. MetLife brings to you over 135 years of experience in insurance products - life insurance, automobile and home insurance, annuities, retail banking and other financial services to individuals, as well as group insurance. MetLife reaches out to their customers in India through a network of 9 branches with head office at Bangalore and around 1000 customer reach points through its distribution channels including online premium insurance sales on MetLife insurance.com.

Reliance Life Insurance Company Limited

Reliance Life Insurance Company Limited is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Capital Limited of the Reliance ADAG. After acquisition of AMP Sanmar Life Insurance Company in 2005, Reliance Life Insurance Co had a pre-established infrastructure and a product portfolio to develop further. Targeting both individual employees and employing multinationals, Reliance Life Insurance India offers a mixed bag of Insurance schemes that include both individual and group employee benefit plans.

Sahara India Life Insurance Company Ltd (SILICL)

Sahara India Life Insurance Company Ltd (SILICL) benchmarked the start of life insurance services by Sahara India on 30th October 2004. Sahara India Life Insurance Company Ltd is the first wholly Indian-owned private-sector life insurance company. A look into the company profile and operations show some well renowned names like leading actuarial consultant M/s Watson Wyatt Consulting Pvt. Ltd. training the staff on Actuarial VIP software system, product development and pricing.

 SBI Life Insurance

SBI Life Insurance offers Personal Insurance and related services in order to enable us plan our life for contingencies and unforeseen events. SBI Life Insurance is a product of the collaboration of the State Bank of India and the French Insurance company, the Cardiff SA. SBI Life Insurance offers Insurance Benefits and pension services based on the case and the portfolio of the clients. The experts with SBI Life Insurance offer investment life insurance but what distinguishes The State Bank of India from other Insurance Companies is the availability of Mortgage Life Insurance policies in which we can avail SBI Housing Loans/Home Loans and SBI Life Insurance and then consolidate the insurance premium and the monthly installments.

Generic competitive strategies

The generic competitive strategies form a business tool which helps strategists understand how the position of a company within its industry can be directly related to the strategy it employs. The strategy employed can then be analyzed to understand where a company's competitive advantage lies. Mr. Porter identified the two main types of competitive advantage as cost advantage and differentiation. In developing and maintaining their competitive advantage, companies have the option to adopt one of the three generic strategies: cost leadership, differentiation or focus.

The horizontal axis across the top of the graph shows the type of competitive advantage the company has, whilst the vertical axis relates to the scope of the competition, either broad and company-wide or narrow and limited to a market segment.

Max New York Life belongs to the Insurance industry where the strategies of cost are determined by the IRDA that is Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority so the price of the product does not play as important role as the marketing strategy that each player adopts.

1. Cost Leadership
This is a strategy where a company aims to out-price its competitors by reducing overheads or the fixed costs associated with manufacture and distribution. It requires a focus on the efficiency of production lines and economies of scale. This strategy is employed where customers have the ability to change supplier easily and the products or services are standardized and well understood by the consumer. The channel that we work for is known as CEIP which stands for Corporate Employee Insurance Programme where Max New York Life targets people working with corporate offering them a lower premium than that charged in retail. There is no additional cost involved as the leads are generated by the agents and their target is to tap the customers who cannot afford a high premium. Hence it reduces the distribution cost as there is bulk selling involved and since insurance is an intangible product the manufacture cost is negligible. Hence MNYL aims at cost leadership under this umbrella.

2. Differentiation
This strategy is employed where a unique attribute of a product or service is highlighted relative to similar alternatives presented by the competition. It allows a higher price to be charged or a greater ability to command customer loyalty. Differentiation strategy is used where the company sees its key product competencies as a more profitable advantage than simple cost leadership.

Examples include Coca-Cola, which differentiates by building a solid brand, or Sony, which differentiates on quality or reliability of products. Customers react to this strategy by paying more for a perceived greater reliability or quality or by returning to a trusted brand. It relies heavily on marketing or advertising to maintain the brand identity and raises the barrier to competitors entering the market. The generic strategy given by Porter on differentiation is not applicable to the insurance industry since its a regulated industry and the prices of each policy across the industry are more or less the same. Hence differentiating the products based on charging a higher price for the brand does not exists in the insurance industry.

3. Focus
This strategy is aimed at a specific target consumer group, for example cultural, economic, political, geographical or age-related groups. The strategy employs either cost focus (3A) or differentiation focus (3B) within its target audience, and in this sense it is a narrower application of one of the aforementioned strategies. Porter identified that one combination of the strategies is possible: combining market segmentation with differentiation. However, in general, other combinations are not possible due to a conflict between cost reduction and value-added differentiation. Therefore, a company should retain one overall main strategy to maintain its long term competitive advantage.

Max New York Life adopts this strategy of focus where in it divides the consumer on the basis of economic and social class and makes a strategy that attracts them along with the prices to match the segment. We can take the

example of CEIP where it targets those consumers for whom paying a high premium is difficult but at the same time they want to secure their families. Here again it divides the strategies on the basis on the needs of the consumer whether they want family protection or want to secure their childs future they want their funds to grow or want a steady income after retirement. Hence on these needs each product is offered making it a focus strategy. Hence we can conclude that MNYL adopts two of Porter generic Strategy which are focus and cost leadership because it customizes its products according to the consumers needs and also offers discounts on premiums making it a cost leadership strategy.

PRESENT SCENARIO OF INSURANCE INDUSTRY

India with about 200 million middle class household shows a huge untapped potential for players in the insurance industry. Saturation of markets in many developed economies has made the Indian market even more attractive for global insurance majors. The insurance sector in India

has come to a position of very high potential and competitiveness in the market. Indians, have always seen life insurance as a tax saving device, are now suddenly turning to the private sector that are providing them new products and variety for their choice.

Consumers remain the most important centre of the insurance sector. After the entry of the foreign players the industry is seeing a lot of competition and thus improvement of the customer service in the industry. Computerization of operations and updating of technology has become imperative in the current scenario. Foreign players are bringing in international best practices in service through use of latest technologies.

The insurance agents still remain the main source through which insurance products are sold. The concept is very well established in the country like India but still the increasing use of other sources is imperative. At present the distribution channels that are available in the market are listed below: Direct selling Corporate agents Group selling Brokers and cooperative societies Banc assurance

Customers have tremendous choice from a large variety of products from pure term (risk) insurance to unit-linked investment products. Customers are offered unbundled products with a variety of benefits as riders from which they can choose. More customers are buying products and services based on their true needs and not just traditional money back policies, which is not considered very appropriate for long-term protection and

savings. There is lots of saving and investment plans in the market. However, there are still some key new products yet to be introduced - e.g. health products.

The rural consumer is now exhibiting an increasing propensity for insurance products. A research conducted exhibited that the rural consumers are willing to dole out anything between Rs 3,500 and Rs 2,900 as premium each year. In the insurance the awareness level for life insurance is the highest in rural India, but the consumers are also aware about motor, accidents and cattle insurance. In a study conducted by MART the results showed that nearly one third said that they had purchased some kind of insurance with the maximum penetration skewed in favor of life insurance. The study also pointed out the private companies have huge task to play in creating awareness and credibility among the rural populace. The perceived benefits of buying a life policy range from security of income bulk return in future, daughter's marriage, children's education and good return on savings, in that order, the study adds.

Market share of each player

Max New York Life Insurance Co Ltd has reported growth of 73% in 200708. Total new business generated was Rs 641.83 crores as against Rs 387.51 crores. The company was pushed down to the 8th position from 7th in 2007-08.

Market Share(% )
2% 3% 3% 5% 6% 7% 1.19%

LIC ICICI Prudential Bajaj Allianz SBI Life Max New York HDFC Standard
64%

9%

Reliance Life Birla Sunlife Kotak

The above diagram shows the market share of each company making: 1. LIC with 64% 2. ICICI with 9% 3. Bajaj Allianz with 7% 4. SBI Life with 6% 5. Max New York Life 5% 6. HDFC Standard 3% 7. Reliance Life 3% 8. Birla Sunlife 2% 9. Kotak Mahindra 1.19%

Trends in the market Share

The trend analysis show that the market share of MNYL has remained more or less in the bracket of 1-2 percent over a period of 5 years. However its rigorous marketing activities are helping it increase its market share and come among the top five insurance companies. The major market is still dominated by Life Insurance Corporation followed by ICICI. Among the private players in the year 2004 the second position was taken by Birla Sun Life followed by Bajaj Allianz closely followed by HDFC Standard Life, SBI Life and Tata AIG. However for the year 2009 the trend has changed MNYL share has increased and its a close second to Birla Sun life. The company has grown over 73% internally followed by Kotak Mahindra and Aviva life insurance LIC has been pushed down to the 5th position with its market being only 57% that shows that the private players have a share of almost 43 % now.

Evaluation 2
The marketing objectives of Max New York Life can be summarized as follows:
1. To expand its business MNYL is setting a best in class agency distribution model in place, the company is spearheading a major thrust into additional distribution channels to further grow its business. The company is using a five-pronged strategy to pursue alternative channels of distribution. These include the franchisee model, rural business, direct sales force involving group insurance and telemarketing opportunities, banc assurance and corporate alliances. The company will expand its number of offices from the present 366 spread across 233 cities to 1,600 by 2011. Out of the 1,600 new offices to be opened, 739 would be located in emerging markets. 2. Customer Service Another objective can be seen is customer service being it claim settlement or customizing their product MNYL leaves no stone unturned. The annual report of Max New York Insurance Co. shows that they have achieved this by their sheer dedication to their customers and the hard work of their insurance agents. The insurance plans are well customized after understanding the needs of each customer by the insurance agent and full assistance is ensured for the insurance claims. -- 0.16 outstanding claims, Only 5 outstanding claims in the year 07 08, Average claim settlement turnaround time of 4 days, Simplified and reduces documentation for claims. A company official stated "At

Max New York, we believe in staying by the consumers' side at every stage of his life and this translates into our new brand positioning," During the recent downturn of the economy Max is focusing more on the traditional based products rather then ULIP because the customers have become more cautious these days and have lost faith in the share market and since ULIP products are associated with the share market hence Max is focusing more on their ULIP products. This can also been seen in their new product launch of Smart Express which aims at freezing the stock value when it is high so that it ensures a positive return for its customers.

3. Revenue and Market share: Max New York Life is eyeing a four-five fold increase in its revenue within three years. The company is doing it brand positioning on the basis of revenue during the last fiscal, their revenue clocked close to Rs 2,600-crore revenue and the plan to increase it four-five times by 2011," Max New York Life Insurance Co Ltd has reported growth of 73% in 2007-08. Total new business generated was Rs 641.83 crores as against Rs 387.51 crores. The company was pushed down to the 8th position from 7th in 2007-08. While insurance industry witnessed a negative eight per cent growth, MNYL achieved a 41 per cent growth in first year premium collection with a single premium adjusted at 10 per cent and in terms of number policy holders MNYL grew by 59 per cent, while the industry grew by only one per cent as on march 2009. The new brand positioning has a tagline, Karo Zyaada Ka Iraada and represents those who aspire to compete for more, demand more, dream more and live more to create a better today and brighter tomorrow. In India, the company, which holds a market share of five per cent in the life insurance segment, is aiming for a 10 per cent share by 2011. A company official stated this in a recently held press conference Currently, we are among the top five

private life insurance players. We aim to be among the top three by 2011," they also aim at hiring almost 300,000 agents and over 25,000 employees, and commitment of capital in excess of Rs 3,600 crores. 4. Sales Realization: The Company expects an overall premium growth of 65 per cent in the year 2008-09. In the last fiscal, it collected premium of Rs 2,714 crores and this year it is expected to rise to more than Rs 3,500 crores.

5. Costs:

The main cost incurred by Max is the new offices that it opens and the process of training because the training process is very vigorous as compared to the other players in the industry. Every insurance company takes time to break even because set up cost is high the company as a whole has still not broken even but individual branches have done so. It is predicted that the company will break even by 2012. There are guidelines given by IRDA as to how much paid up capital should a company have and Max New York has a paid up capital of much higher then the prescribed limit. They are planning to cut their cost in each and every branches I have visited one can see huge posters of bijlee bacho andolan where in guidelines are given as to cut down the use of electricity, switch off PCs when not in use, to switch off lights when not using the room, to keep the AC on 22 degrees etc. they are also cutting down on the use of paper. These are a few measures apart from this their major focus has now turned to the traditional products since ULIP products management is turning out to be more expensive as there is a downturn in the stock market.

The Four Ps of Marketing

The 4 Ps of marketing are also known as the marketing mix that a company adopts to market its product. The 4 Ps are PROUCT, PLACE, PRICE and PROMOTION.

Product
Max NYL: Expanding product portfolio Max New York Life Insurance offers an intangible product that is an insurance cover. Max New York Life offers a suite of flexible products. It now has 43 life insurance products and 8 riders that can be customized to over 800 combinations enabling customers to choose the policy that best fits their need.

The products that are offered by Max New York Life are broadly divided into: Endowment policies: This type of policy covers risk for a specified period, and at the end of the maturity sum assured is paid back to policyholder with the bonuses during the term of the policy. Money back policies: This type of policy is for periodic payments of partial survival benefits during the term of the policy as long as the policy holder is alive. Group insurance: This type of insurance offers life insurance protection under group policies to various groups such as employers-employees, professionals, cooperatives etc. It also provides insurance coverage for people in certain approved occupations at the lowest possible premium cost. Term life insurance policies: This type of insurance covers risk only during the selected term period. If the policy holder survives the term, risk cover comes to an end. These types of policies are for those people who are unable to pay larger premium required for endowment and whole life policies. No surrender, loan or paid up values are in such policies. Whole life insurance policies: This type of policy runs as long as the policyholder is alive and is covered for the entire life of the policyholder. In this policy the insured amount and the bonus is payable only to nominee on the death of policy holder.

 Joint life insurance policies: These policies are similar to endowment policies in maturity benefits and risk cover, but joint life policies cover two lives simultaneously such as married couples. Sum assured is payable on the first death and again on the death of survival during the term of the policy. Pension plan: A pension plan or annuity is an investment over a certain number of years but does not provide any life insurance cover. It offers a guaranteed income either for a life or certain period. Unit linked insurance plan: ULIP is a kind of insurance plan which provides life cover as well as return on premium paid over a certain period of time. The investment is denoted as units and represented by the value called as net asset value (NAV). Linked products formed 67% of total premiums in FY08; Lower than peers but building up

Increasing
120% 100% 80%

The products offered by Max New York are:

Life Partner Plus Plan Life Gain Plus 20 Participating Plan Life Gain Plus 25 Participating Plan Children Plan SMART Invest Pension Plan 20 year Endowment (Par) Plan Life Gain Endowment Plan Endowment to Age 60 (Par) Plan Whole Life Participating Plan Five Yr Renewable and Convertible Plan (Non - Par) LifeLine Wellness Plan LifeLine-Safety Net Plan Life Maker Gold Plan Life Invest Plan SMART EXPRESS

Level Term Plan LifeLine MediCash Plan Life Pay Money Back Smart Assure Life Maker Premium Investment

The latest product that MNLY has come up with is known as the SMART EXPRESS where the minimum premium is 50,000 but the benefit of this policy if taken on a yearly mode is since it being a ULIP product and the markets trend not looking too great the value of the fund freezes when the stock price increases hence it to an extent offers a fixed return it can say that one who invest in this plan is assured of a positive return. This product was introduced since it had to discontinue its very famous product Life Invest again this was due to the guidelines of IRDA when it says if the plan crosses a certain limit of sum assured offered it has to close the product.

The insurance companies are guided or the governing body of any insurance company is the IRDA that is the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority. So when a company launches a new product they first have to submit the blue prints to the IRDA and only when it receives an approval from the IRDA it can start marketing the product.

Relatively longer tenure policies Average tenure of polices is 26 years, which is much higher than the ~12 years for some of the leading players; Also due to significant whole life policies underwritten in the past Flagship products include Life Maker Premium and Life Invest; Recently launched pension, health and children plans Pension and health will be key focus areas going forward

Place
Eight years old Max New York Life Insurance Company is present in around 364 cities with 555 offices. Out of these, around 139 offices are dedicated to rural business. The company has multi-channel distribution that includes the agency distribution, partnership distribution, banc assurance, distribution focused on emerging markets and alliance marketing through employed sales force. Max New York Life currently has thirty-three banc assurance relationships, fourteen corporate agency tie-ups and direct sales force at fourteen locations. The company has put in place a hub-and-spoke model of distribution to deepen rural penetration. It currently has more than 13,627 employees. MNYL has most of it offices near the station hence making the connectivity very high. This makes it easily accessible to the customers, employees and the agents. Max New York Life has identified individual agents as its primary channel of distribution. The Company places a lot of emphasis on its selection process, which comprises four stages - screening, psychometric test, career seminar and final interview. The agent advisors are trained in-house to ensure optimal control on quality of training. This helps the agents have a better knowledge and a standard platform to pitch or open a sales call.

Max New York Life: Building distribution

1. Plans to aggressively expand agency force Has 92,500 agents and plans to expand to over 200,000 agents by the end of 2011-2012 Has 600 offices and plans to reach over 750 offices FY09 Highly trained and skilled agency force with average training hours of 400 hours against minimum 50 stipulated by IRDA

A
100 80 (in 000's) 60

Of

40 800

600

20

2. Hub and spoke model for rural distribution Pioneered hub and spoke model of rural distribution Rural marketing model has 133 offices Strong rural team with 1000 employees and 5000 agents 3. Focusing on building alternate channels Currently has 36 banc assurance relationships, 24 corporate agency tieups and direct sales force at 14 locations Agency contributed ~60% of premium collection in while banc assurance contributed ~13%
Source: ENAM Research, IRDA and Company

Promotion
MNYL does its promotion through television, radio and even by having handles bearing their names in the local trains of Mumbai. It has now tied up with the Indian railway which is the first Public Private partnership (PPP) of its kind in the insurance sector. Max New York Life has acquired the rights for the Rajdhani Expresses running on three routes, Delhi- Bangalore, Delhi-Chennai and DelhiThiruvananthapuram. The trains' public address systems will carry the brand's messages. Opportunities for brand visibility, such as posters, table top covers and pamphlet/ leaflet dispensers are also a part of the package. Max New York Life Insurance is authorized to place insurance agents in the trains to explain various insurance plans to prospective customers. Max New York Life has provided funds to upgrade the trains' services. The trains now have high quality flooring, clean toilets, soap dispensers, tissue paper dispensers, deodorant based toilet flushing systems, automated fragrance dispensers in the compartments and trained housekeeping staff to maintain these services throughout the journey. These are just a few ways of promotion that MNYL has taken to promote its brand and generate business.

Price
The price variation is not much possible however MNYL has come up with the innovative channel known as CEIP where it offers its product at a discounted premium hence instead of loosing the customer due to non affordability they tap the customer by lowering the premium this is done through the corporate channel which basically aims at getting customers at a bulk. The additional services that are offered gives MNYL an upper hand, MNYL is said to have the best claim settlement amount the industry the claims are settled within 9 days its said that the claims are settled at an average of 4 days and only 0.16% of the claims stand unsettled . The customer services offered by MNYL are of a top class and there is not a single dissatisfied customer.

Valuation of the firm

Manager Shareholder Government

Creditors Auditors

Employees Vendors Customers

The diagram above shows how each component contributes to the value of the firm. No business can work without the interaction of internal and external environment. From the employees to customers to the government to the shareholders all of them are known as the stakeholders of the company.

The ManagerThe manager is a person who heads the company uses his expertise to carry on the business. The manager is the one who contributes his knowledge to the organization and makes it the one that he wants to see it as in return he gets

a salary hence making it a two way process. The founder and executive chairman of max India group is Mr. Analjit Singh. Mr. Rajesh Sud is the CEO and Managing Director of Max New York Life. They are the stalwart who handle the company and have helped the company become what it is today.

The Government No company today can work in isolation it needs to get sanctions from the government it needs permission to carry on business. The government gets duties and taxes from the company. The insurance sector is governed by IRDA a government regulatory to protect the interest of the policyholders IRDA came into existence in 2000 and any new company has to be registered under the IRDA before carrying on business. Max New York Life is a joint venture between Max India that holds 74% of the stake and New York Life holding 26% of the stake in Max New York Life. These guidelines have also been set by the IRDA. Even when MNYL wants to come up with a new product it has to file its plan with the IRDA and only with the approval of the same can it market its product hence we can even notice that the products offered and the price attached with it of all the insurance companies is more or less the same with a little differentiation. Hence this is how government forms a part of the stake holder for MNYL.

The AuditorsThe auditors of a company check the accounts of a company whether they are true and fair. This is done to protect the interest of the shareholders and to see there is no manipulation of their money. MNYL is not a listed company hence has no shareholders but every company has auditors to audit their books of accounts and MNYL is no exception the difference being the accounts, balance sheet is not published in public but can be available to its stake holders as and when they demand for it. The auditors get fees or commission and also give advice on legal issues to the company.

The VendorsThe vendors are the ones who take franchise of the company and get commission on the sales they get a brand name and their set up cost is very low. For MNYL we can say that their vendors are various organizations that they have a tie up with. MNYL has tied up with BANK ASSURANCE to sell insurance for MNYL they have an exclusive office to train the staff of bank assurance and around 205 of the business comes from them. MNYL has also tied up with NMIMS to offer insurance courses where in an insurance post graduation course is offered and the students are then absorbed by MNLY bringing down their training cost. They have recently tied by with SOTC, The Company recently entered into a tie-up with Pearless General Finance & Investment Company to distribute Max Vijay which aims at distributing insurance products in the rural sector. The target customers would be 100 million population, who still do not have access to financial products and depend on house saving. The company has set a target of Rs 300 crores first year premium over the next 2-3 years by selling Max Vijay. They have also tied up with the Indian Railway and Indian oil.

The CustomersThe customers are the ones who actually buy the product/ service of the company. The customer is treated like the king today and is given utmost importance. Hence MNYL offers customized products to their customers they do a fact finding of the customer before they sell their product the product is designed n sold as per the need and requirement of the customer. MNYL is also known for its best customer service across the industry and their claim settlement is a record of 99.84% which shows only 0.16% of the policies are not settled on an average they settle the claim within 4 days. All these points

show the confidence of it customers in MNYL which has a customer base of around 1 million policy holders.

The EmployeesThe employees are the ones who take orders from their superiors and carry out the business and ensure a smooth functioning of the activities and they get a salary in return. MNYL has been awarded the best employer to work with hence it shows the commitment it has towards its employees. The employees are given a training that is the best in the industry and are given a good ambience and facility to work with. It has around 15,627 employees. The company agent advisors strength is now touching 81,500 agents.

The CreditorsThe creditors are the ones who give in a way finance to the company they allow the company to pay the price of the goods sold to them on a later fixed date for an amount of interest. MNYL is not manufacturing any product hence it does not have to incur any raw material or process cost but that doesnt mean they do not have creditors they may be having creditors in the form of contracts given to set up uniform offices all over India.

The shareholdersThe shareholders are the ones who contribute to the capital of a company they put their money in the company in a way to finance the company in return the shareholders get a share in the profits of the company known as the dividend. MNYL is not a listed company hence it does not have any shareholders.

Max New York Life: Valuations-Key Points

We have valued Max New York Life on appraisal value basis at USD 1.8bn (FY10 basis) Value of new business is estimated at USD1.5 bn and Embedded value as at FY08 is estimated at USD 258mn We estimate the life insurance business to contribute Rs160 per share to the parent i.e. Max India on FY10 basis

Premium (Rs. Bn) FY06

New Buss. Prem. Renewal Prem. Total Prem. APE APE Growth 4714 3168 7881 4415 98%

FY07
9121 5882 15003 7749 76%

FY08
15980 11170 27150 13496 74%

FY09 FY10E
21690 14749 36440 18220 35% 28198 19174 47372 23686 30%

Findings

Following Are the Findings of My Study based on the work done in the company: Most of the people are satisfied with their work profile. They are not interested in earning more via insurance industry. Most of the people felt that the training procedure is quite tough for become a life advisor due to their circumstances. Most of the people do not know about broker, corporate agents and bank assurance; they rely on their agents only. Most of the people prefer to become a customer of Life Insurance Corporation of India rather than for private companies due to the strong feeling about Govt. concern. Some people have their doubts on the credibility and long stay of private insurance companies. Because of less advertising many people lacking facts about private life insurance companies.

Conclusion

India has traditionally been a high savings oriented country - often described as being on par with the thrifty Japan. Insurance sector in the US of A is as big in size as the banking industry there. This gives us an idea of how important the sector is. Insurance sector channelises the savings of the people to long term investments. In India where infrastructure is said to be of critical importance, this sector will bring the nations own money for the nation. In 3 years time we would expect the 10% of the population to be under some sort of an insurance cover. This assuming a premium of Rs. 5000 on an average, amounts to 100 million x Rs.5000 = Rs. 500 bn. This has made the sector the hottest one in India after IT. With social security and security to the public at large being the agenda for opening the sector, the role of the regulator becomes all the more serious and one that would be carefully watched at every step. India has an enormous middle-class that can afford to buy life, health, and disability and pension plan products. The low level of penetration of life insurance in India compared to other developed nations can be judged by a comparison of per capitalife premium. Clearly, there is considerable scope to raise per capita life premium if the market is effectively tapped. There has been tremendous change in the insurance history. And with it there has been continuous growth in this sector both in Indian as well as world context. The opening up of the insurance sector has changed the whole look of the industry. While the LIC in order to face the competition is coming with new

strategies and new players like Max New York life are leading sector due to their strategic management and tailored made projects. From our study also we conclude that though the awareness and people opting for LIC plans are more as compare to Max New York Life but the later are gaining momentum in the market day by day. The primary reasons for becoming an insurance advisor, whether life or non-life is to sell policies of mutual benefit for people. We do not invest in insurance for returns; rather we invest in it for regrettable necessities. Though a large proportion of policies available in the country provide for returns, but nobody is looking for returns to the inflation rate. So what does insurance offer, perhaps peace of mind, but even that takes time, due to poor claim performance. The demand for insurance is likely to increase with rising per-capital incomes rising literacy rates and increase of the service sector, as has been seen from the example of several other developing countries. In fact, opening up of the insurance sector is an integral part of the liberalization process being pursued by many Developing Countries. Insurance is a Rs.400 billion business in India and yet its spread in the country is relatively thin. Insurance as a concept has not been able to make headway in India. There has been a strong fall in insurance business in recent years. Furthermore, it can be observed that non-life business is not increasing as strongly as life business. On the other hand, growth fluctuations have been relatively small with growth rates varying between 1% and 5%. Life insurance business by contrast achieved average growth rates of 6%, although the actual rates ranged from 0% to 13%.

This shows on the one hand the increasing significance of life insurance as an instrument for old age provisions and on the other hand indicates the sensitivity of life insurance to changes in the institutional and economic environment. So lets conduct this business with utmost economy with the spirit of trusteeship; thereby making insurance widely popular. And last more and more insurers are utilizing distribution channels as they continue to balance the needs of different groups of consumers against the cost of distributing their products and services. When it comes to insurance distribution channels one-size does not fit all.

Recommendations
There is some of the recommendation we had come up with while doing this project. It will help to make insurance more important sector in todays economy. The need of the hour is to devise a comprehensive strategy that will help the firms face the challenges of the future. The financial services industry around the world over is undergoing a major transformation. It is very important that trained marketing professionals who are able to communicate specific features of the policy should sell the policy.

From our study we could find out that people are not aware about the policies and features of insurance. Therefore Max New York Life Insurance is recommended to shed light on policies and explain the benefits, thus increasing the awareness. The penetration of insurance in India is around 22%. This indicates that a vast majority of rural population is not covered. The market player needs to explore this untapped potential through their marketing and sales network. Insurance companies will also have to get savvy in distribution. Enhanced marketing thus will be crucial.

The future seems to belong to financial supermarkets that will offer a host of services and products to the consumer. In the next millennium all these activities would play a crucial role in the overall development and maturity of the insurance industry.

They should follow the following factor of success in insurance business i.e. A change in the attitude of the population
Indians have always been wary of employing their hard-earned money in a venture that will pay them on their death. Insurance has always been used as a Tax saving tool. No more, no less. It is up to the insurers to educate the people to secure/insure their future against any unknown calamity and make a shield around their families and businesses.

An open and transparent environment created under the IRDA.

The reason for this being on the top of our understanding is that when ever we have seen any sector open up in India there are always grey areas and unsure policies. These are not exactly what any player, be it Indian or foreign, looks for. It creates an air of uncertainty in all the decision making process. Insurance as a sector requires players who are strong financially and are willing to wait for returns. This will also help the consumers feel safe that the regulatory is an active one and cares to do everything possible to keep things under control and help the insurance environment grow maturely.

 A well-established distribution network.

To cater to the largest democracy in the world is by no means a cakewalk. Insurance profits are directly related to number of insured and this is in turn related to the reach. The case in example is of the State Bank of India. The joint ventures announced have a flavour of network being a critical decider. This is so because as per the guidelines 15% of the policies written by the 5th financial year will have to come from the rural area. The banks are the only ones who have that reach.

Trained professionals to build and sell the product.

It is said that the insurance agent is the best salesman in the world. He makes you pay, regularly, an amount promising to pay back only on your death. Thus the players will require an excellent sales team to sell their products in the now competitive environment. The importance can be seen from the fact that a lot of LIC personal are being poached by the new players.

A more rationale approach to the investment criteria.

This is a very critical area as far as the government and the players are concerned. The government as fixed up the investment pattern for the players to meet its social obligations. The players feel that the compulsion is unjust and will affect their return on investments. We also need to bear in mind that the insurers are here not for charity but for profits. So their interest is also to be kept in mind.

stringent

accounting

practice

to prevent

failures

amongst the insurers.

Every insurer will have the hard-earned money of the masses. Any failure of the insurer on account of unwarranted profligacy will cost the nation in genera land the insured in particular. To prevent any underhand workings of the insurer and to prevent them from going bust, a stringent accounting practice is imperative.

A level playing field at all stages of development in the

sector for all the players.

An unbiased environment is where the best comes out of the players. Their real strength shines through. This is the beauty of capitalism that we are trying to achieve in our customized manner. This will only help the industry grow and so will the society.

And last but not the least patience amongst the players and consumers to wait for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Suggestions:
In the light of the finding mentioned above, the following suggestions are offered to improve the functioning of the Max New York Life Insurance in terms of operating efficiency:

Advertising of the insurance product should be used to create awareness with brand identity. Insurance should be popularized as the means of securing future rather than saving tax. Information should be correctly communicated with their respective people for increasing brand loyalty. With the help of excellent services they can develop the position in front of customer. This is one thing that private players can do. The processing fees for becoming an advisor is Rs.1000.This should be borne by the company as it acts as a deterrent in converting prospects into advisors. Newspaper/Magazines and television are the most effective medium of advertising life insurance. So they utilize these medium for popularity. Insurance advisors should be well trained because they are the people who directly fulfill the motive of concern.

Bibliography

Websites Referred: www.maxnewyorklife.com www.business-standard.com www.financialexpress.com www.apnainsurance.com www.webnewswire.com www.acadjournal.com