Aon which earlier had a similar joint venture with Prabodh Thaker’s Global Insurance Brokers had withdrawn from the JV three years back and has been mostly operating through Anviti Insurance Brokers, which was set up in 2017, for servicing its Indian clients, The Indian regulations requires a international insurance brokers to wait for two years before they can re-enter the country’s insurance market.
Aon plc, world’s second largest re/insurnace broker has re-entered the Indian insurance intermediary market by acquiring 49 per cent equity stake in Narayan Murthy’s Anviti Insurance Brokers Pvt.
However, the financial details of the deal are not yet known.
Aon which earlier had a similar joint venture with Prabodh Thaker’s Global Insurance Brokers had ended its 12 year partnership five-year back and has been mostly operating through Anviti Insurance Brokers, which was set up in 2017, for servicing its Indian clients.
The Indian regulations requires an international insurance brokers to wait for two years before they can re-enter the country’s insurance market.
Anviti Insurance Brokers had earlier tied up with Aon, but had to put an end to the partnership immediately with regulatory objections.
Jonathan Pipe, CEO of Anviti, will continue to lead the team. “I am excited to transition Anviti into the Aon world as we continue to help Indian businesses prepare for the new better. We have strong capabilities in India and have established trusted advisory relationships since we started operations in 2017. I look forward to building upon this platform and accelerating results for our clients, colleagues and communities.”
Industry analysts point out that Aon globally is in the process of acquiring Willis Towers Watson, which already has a joint venture in India.
Willis Towers Watson has a 49 per cent stake in Almondz Insurance Brokers in India.
Indian regulations don’t permit two licenses to one group or promoters for the similar business.
“So going forward, after the full intergration of Wills Tower Watson into Aon globally, there will be further changes on how Aon will operate in the Indian market, if it decides to operate through partnership,” said sources.
Though, Indian regulatiions now allow international insurace brokers to have 100 per cent stake in their Indian operations, Aon for the time being has preferred to pick-up 49 per cent in Anviti Insurance Brokers..
Sandeep Malik, CEO, Asia Pacific, Aon said: “I welcome the Anviti team to the Aon family. We are excited about the innovation that Aon can bring to our clients in India, create exciting new opportunities for our colleagues and realise the full potential of our firm in a dynamic market.”
The Anviti team will form the core of the joint venture and its growth plans in India, supported by Aon’s global resources and state-of-the-art technology and operations infrastructure., said Aon.
The broking firm has been set up by Catamaran, a proprietary investment firm of Murthy and his wife Sudha Murty.
Murthy has also stakes in Coverfox, a e-insurance broking company and Acko General Insurance, a non-life company which promises to focus on digital platform to do insurance business.
© Asia Insurance Post
Click here for original news