Max New York Life Insurance appoints Rajesh Sud as chief executive officer and managing director
13 Oct 2008, 1831 Hrs

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New Delhi, October 13 (Business Wire India/ANI): Max New York Life Insurance Ltd., the joint venture between Max India Ltd. and New York Life International, LLC, the international arm of New York Life Insurance Company, announced today that Rajesh Sud, has been named Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the joint venture operation, effective November 1, pending formal IRDA approval.

Prior to the appointment, Sud was serving as Max New York Life Insurance's Deputy Managing Director. Gary Bennett, who served as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the company since July 2005, has been named Executive Vice President and Greater China Chief Executive Officer of New York Life International, LLC, effective immediately.

In a related announcement, Rajit Mehta, Max New York Life's Deputy Chief Operating Officer has been appointed as the Chief Operating Officer of the joint venture, also pending regulatory approval.

Analjit Singh, Chairman Max New York Life Insurance, commented: "Rajesh and Rajit's appointments are part of an orderly management transition that has been planned for some time. We are confident that this new leadership team will build on the solid foundation that is in place as we continue our journey of becoming the most admired life insurance company in India with the most professional, most highly trained agency sales force in the country. We thank Gary Bennett for all that he has done on behalf of Max New York Life and wish him the very best in his new role."

"We are fortunate to have executives of Rajesh's caliber taking the helm at Max New York Life Insurance," added Singh. "Rajesh has made a significant impact implementing business strategies that have contributed to the rapid growth of our life insurance business, steering the overall distribution network, and contributing greatly to the company's product management and marketing efforts." Singh continued, "Rajit has played an equally important role for Max New York Life, helping make Max New York Life's human resources and talent development the strategic differentiator that it is today, as well as adding significant value to the company's sales, operations and customer service functions."

"We're very pleased to have individuals with the level of skill and accomplishment of Rajesh and Rajit at Max New York Life Insurance," said Dick Mucci, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of New York Life International, LLC. "It's a testament to organizational depth of the company that we are tapping two founding team members who have had major roles in building the company into what it is today, one of India's premier life insurers, widely recognized for its quality and innovation and for its role in making life insurance and retirement savings a reality for tens of millions of low-income and underserved Indian households."

Mucci added, "Gary played an important role in the tremendous growth and success of Max New York Life Insurance and we are grateful to him for his many contributions. He did an outstanding job leading Max New York Life, and in his prior post running New York Life's Hong Kong operation, and I'm pleased he's accepted a new position within New York Life International overseeing our large and attractive Greater China region."

Previously, as a member of the company's core management team, Sud was responsible for steering the overall distribution network of the company and overseeing the product management, marketing, corporate affairs and customer relationship management functions.

Prior to that he served as Executive Director - Distribution, and was the primary driver for Max New York Life Insurance's distribution footprint across India, setting up alliances and an agent-advisor network and model that was recognized as the "best in class." Mr. Sud earned his Bachelor of Commerce and an MBA and in marketing and finance from Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi University before completing his Advanced Management Program from Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA.

Mehta is also a founding team member of the Max New York Life team. Prior to his role as Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Rajit served as Max New York Life's Executive Director for Human Resources, Training and Internal Communications where he was responsible for strategic initiatives leading to the strengthening of the Max New York Life's human resource management.

He has also made important contribution in development and implementation of Max Vijay, the innovative business model that fulfills protection and savings needs of underserved market. Prior to joining Max New York Life, he was Director - Personnel at Bank of America and worked with HCL - Hewlett Packard. Mr. Mehta is management graduate and has attended an Advanced Management Course at INSEAD, France. (ANI)