Mahindra Joins Hands With Manulife To Set Up 50:50 Life Insurance JV In India

Mahindra & Mahindra on Thursday said it has inked a pact with Toronto headquartered Manulife to establish a 50:50 life insurance joint venture, entailing an investment of ₹3,600 crore each from both partners.

This new venture will strengthen Mahindra and Manulife's existing footprint in India and underscores their commitment to enhancing the financial wellbeing of customers in one of the world's fastest-growing markets.

The vision is to be the leading life insurance company for rural and semi-urban India, and in serving urban customers through leadership in protection solutions, the Mumbai-based firm said in a statement.

The total capital commitment from each shareholder is up to ₹3,600 crore (USD400 million), with each shareholder expected to invest ₹1,250 crore (USD140 million) in the first five years, it added.

Upon regulatory approval, this joint venture will expand on the collaboration between Mahindra and Manulife in India, following the successful launch of Mahindra Manulife Investment Management in 2020.

"Mahindra brand strength, deep distribution capabilities in rural and semi-urban India and execution excellence make life insurance a logical extension towards our goal of building a comprehensive financial services portfolio," Mahindra Group Group CEO & MD Anish Shah stated.

“Manulife is the best natural partner for us, given their global capabilities in insurance products, underwriting and reinsurance,” he added.

With a focus on leveraging technology the joint venture will build an efficient, customer-centric insurer in India, Shah said.

"Today marks an important milestone as we seek to enter one of the world's fastest growing insurance markets in India. This will further strengthen our diverse portfolio and positions us for tremendous growth in a mega economy of the future," Manulife President and CEO Phil Witherington said.

"We have a trusted partner in Mahindra Group, with whom we already have a successful asset management collaboration, and we see tremendous opportunity to build on our efforts by leveraging their deep distribution network alongside our industry-leading agency distribution and insurance expertise," he added.

With JV pack inked, Mahindra and Manulife teams will work together to apply for an insurance license.

Yet, India continues to have a high protection gap and low insurance penetration, providing significant long-term growth potential.

These tailwinds position India to become the world's fastest growing life insurance market over the next decade, on track to become the fourth largest globally, the statement stated.

This growth is underpinned by robust GDP expansion, a rising middle class, and a supportive regulatory environment, it added.

At the end of 2024, Manulife Financial Corporation had more than 37,000 employees, over 109,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving over 36 million customers across Canada, Asia, Europe and the US.