Bandhan Life's 5-Year Expansion Plan

Bandhan Financial Holdings has renamed Aegon Life Insurance to Bandhan Life after acquiring the life insurer. As part of its growth strategy, the new company has charted a five-year plan to become a multi-channel life insurance company and will recruit 1,000 new employees soon.

BFHL acquired stake from Bennett, Coleman & Co and Aegon Indian Holding, and became the new promoter in February 2024.

Bandhan Life's MD and CEO, Satishwar B., said, "Our vision for the next five years is set: transforming Bandhan Life into a leading multi-channel insurance company. We will expand our presence across all relevant product categories, thereby enhancing the services we provide."

He added, "We have invested heavily in technology and data-driven processes to keep pace with our strategy of using tech as an enabler. This combination will help us achieve our goal of growing with the new Bharat."

In the beginning, Bandhan Bank is likely to be the largest distribution partner given their size and scale. Bandhan has a presence in all customer categories, including mass customers as well as conventional banking customers, said Satishwar.

"While we are largely a digital company, we are not restricting sales to online. In our distribution through partners, a majority of the processes are tech-enabled, so once the customer knows what they want to buy, the rest of the process happens fast," he said.

According to Satishwar, Bandhan Life would not be a niche player but would tap multiple opportunities. "We have filed a whole range of products, and the focus this year is selling across channels."

"We are building up tech and processes and aim to increase headcount by 1,000 shortly for face-to-face customer engagement. We will start selling in Kolkata from June and expand to all of India by September. Valuation is going to be a key driver of the business strategy going forward," said Satishwar. He added that valuation of the life business would be a key driver going forward, and the focus would be on increasing the embedded value.