Sriram Kumar: Bringing Well-Crafted Insurance Solutions To Various Business Sectors
Sriram Kumar
CEO & Principal Officer
Post that, he was positioned as the Senior Manager of Commercial Lines for HDFC Chubb General Insurance, as Vice President of Asia Pacific Region, Middle East & Head Insurance COE for Maveric Systems, and as Senior Vice president-New Bussiness Acquisitions for Willis Towers Watson India Insurance Brokers before he joined Muthoot Risk Insurance and Broking Services as the Principal Officer & COO and later became the CEO of the Company. Over the past 36 years, Sriram has uniquely designed corporate insurance solutions for Manufacturing, Infrastructure, Gold & Specie, Power, Shipping, Construction, IT, Retailing, Sports, Media, Film insurance & other commercial sectors. With excellent negotiation & leadership skills, the dynamic leader has been knitting together complex insurance solutions and building powerful teams within the organization.
What are the traits that best define your leadership approach and what has been your success mantra?
The Insurance industry is a dynamic industry with a number of policies that are very different from each other, ranging from Assets to Legal Liability to Health & Life. It requires abundant knowledge related to its conditions, clauses, warranties, and deductibles to be able to succeed in this domain. One also needs to be very well equipped with all the terms and the latest trends of the industry as well as need a set of people who will proactively approach, challenge solutions, and come up with multiple solutions. Hence, one of the reasons for my success has been the excellent set of people that I have as my team who were indeed spotted and nurtured by me.
My expertise is in nurturing the talent of young professionals and leading them by giving them the freedom to do their work the way they want to do it but in a very structured and methodical way. Insurance is all about stitching Insurance solutions based on the client’s need, having the right covers & coverage in the policy & proactively handholding the customer in the event of a claim & getting the claim settled on time hence I am very particular about timelines and believe it is extremely crucial to be proactive to be able to work successfully in this domain. Needless to say, a thorough knowledge of the products & risk mapping is critical.
Define Muthoot Risk Insurance and Broking Services as an organization and tell us about your role in the company.
Muthoot Risk Insurance and Broking Services is a part of Muthoot Pappachan Group and is committed to serving its clients with a vast range of Life Insurance and General Insurance products. Muthoot Fin Corp which is the flagship Company of the Group is amongst India’s largest Gold Loan NBFC’s & allows us to leverage its 3700+ branches as our Distribution arm & a presence in all regions of the country.
As a group, we have a hoary legacy of 135+ years and we at MRIBS manage the insurance of the entire group & external customers as well. Here, I handle a very large retail portfolio of customers which includes Motor Insurance, Health Insurance, Home Insurance Life Insurance, Retail Insurance, and the entire gamut of Life & General Insurance. Our biggest advantage is that we study the requirements, financial profile, and family lifestyle of our customers before structuring policies and offering them solutions. We take care of the insurance needs of all our group companies ranging from Gold Loans to Microfinance to
We cater to a large section of Indian society who are unbanked / underbanked and at the Bottom of the Economic pyramid with little or no access to Insurance. Our biggest advantage is that we understand this segment & come up with innovative Insurance solutions which are affordable, simple & useful
Define Muthoot Risk Insurance and Broking Services as an organization and tell us about your role in the company.
Muthoot Risk Insurance and Broking Services is a part of Muthoot Pappachan Group and is committed to serving its clients with a vast range of Life Insurance and General Insurance products. Muthoot Fin Corp which is the flagship Company of the Group is amongst India’s largest Gold Loan NBFC’s & allows us to leverage its 3700+ branches as our Distribution arm & a presence in all regions of the country.
As a group, we have a hoary legacy of 135+ years and we at MRIBS manage the insurance of the entire group & external customers as well. Here, I handle a very large retail portfolio of customers which includes Motor Insurance, Health Insurance, Home Insurance Life Insurance, Retail Insurance, and the entire gamut of Life & General Insurance. Our biggest advantage is that we study the requirements, financial profile, and family lifestyle of our customers before structuring policies and offering them solutions. We take care of the insurance needs of all our group companies ranging from Gold Loans to Microfinance to
Housing to Vehicle Loans to Construction to Renewable Energy to Secured and Unsecured lending & Motor Vehicle Dealerships.
Apart from that, we have a very large presence of customers outside of Muthoot pappachan group as well as marque corporate customers, NBFCs, HFC’s, motor vehicle dealerships & so on. For us at MRIBS, claims settlements bechmarks are very important and this is what really defines "who we are". An Insurance Broker is judged by the technical understanding, negotiation skills and claims settlements standards. We have teams for each of this which is what sets us apart.
How do you keep yourself aligned with IRDAI(Insurance Regulatory and Development
Authority of India) while offering insurance solutions?
The IRDAI, headquartered in Hyderabad, regulates insurance companies as well as the intermediaries like us. There are numerous ground rules that IRDAI lays and as a broker, I must ensure that these rules are strictly followed. We are careful about adhering to regulations.
What is the future destination you are heading towards?
The whole insurance landscape in India is about to transform soon with the IRDA making momentous changes and we are going to witness the UPI movement in the industry. In the retail sector, we are going to see an extensive change with the regulator contemplating a portal named Bima Sugam with all insurers linked to this portal which will enable Customers to have a lot of variety & discounted pricing. We are also witnessing a large number of new players entering Insurance in niche areas. Insurance in India, as we know it now, will change beyond recognition in the next 3-5 years.
Sriram Kumar, Principal Officer and CEO Muthoot Risk Insurance & Broking Services
An Economics Honours Gold medalist and alumnus of the ICAI, Sriram has a vast knowledge of the entire gamut of the insurance industry and is adept in implementing strategic initiatives for generating new business development propositions, establishing profit centre operations for corporate businesses, and providing customized insurance solutions.
Apart from that, we have a very large presence of customers outside of Muthoot pappachan group as well as marque corporate customers, NBFCs, HFC’s, motor vehicle dealerships & so on. For us at MRIBS, claims settlements bechmarks are very important and this is what really defines "who we are". An Insurance Broker is judged by the technical understanding, negotiation skills and claims settlements standards. We have teams for each of this which is what sets us apart.
How do you keep yourself aligned with IRDAI(Insurance Regulatory and Development
Authority of India) while offering insurance solutions?
The IRDAI, headquartered in Hyderabad, regulates insurance companies as well as the intermediaries like us. There are numerous ground rules that IRDAI lays and as a broker, I must ensure that these rules are strictly followed. We are careful about adhering to regulations.
What is the future destination you are heading towards?
The whole insurance landscape in India is about to transform soon with the IRDA making momentous changes and we are going to witness the UPI movement in the industry. In the retail sector, we are going to see an extensive change with the regulator contemplating a portal named Bima Sugam with all insurers linked to this portal which will enable Customers to have a lot of variety & discounted pricing. We are also witnessing a large number of new players entering Insurance in niche areas. Insurance in India, as we know it now, will change beyond recognition in the next 3-5 years.
Sriram Kumar, Principal Officer and CEO Muthoot Risk Insurance & Broking Services
An Economics Honours Gold medalist and alumnus of the ICAI, Sriram has a vast knowledge of the entire gamut of the insurance industry and is adept in implementing strategic initiatives for generating new business development propositions, establishing profit centre operations for corporate businesses, and providing customized insurance solutions.