Universal Sompo General Insurance Company Limited has announced the appointment of Sharad Mathur as its Managing Director & CEO

Mumbai, June 04, 2020: Sharad Mathur has been appointed as Managing Director & CEO of Universal Sompo General Insurance Company Limited w.e.f. June 02, 2020. He will lead the company's overall operations and report to the Board of Directors. Sharad is a seasoned business leader and brings over 23 years of extensive experience and a strong track record of building scale and profitable general insurance businesses. 

Universal Sompo is a joint venture between Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Karnataka Bank, Dabur Investments Corporation and Sompo Japan Insurance. Universal Sompo employs over 1,000 employees and has 83 offices across India.

"We are glad to have Sharad on board as we plan to drive the next phase of development of Universal Sompo. Under Sharad's leadership, company aims to develop a capability to deliver more innovative products, re-engineered distribution architecture and significant improvements in productivity,” said Padmaja Chunduru, Managing Director & CEO, Indian Bank.

On his appointment, Sharad said, "It has been a fulfilling journey in the general insurance sector wherein we have achieved many milestones together and will definitely achieve many more. I am thankful to the board of Universal Sompo for having faith in me and I am looking forward to working with all stakeholders to accelerate the company's expansion. Together, we will leverage our ability to innovate, with sharp customer focus which will remain at the heart of our DNA as we continue to build a great service platform for our customers and channel partners.”

"India is a rapidly-growing market for our business in Asia. Sharad's understanding of Indian market and general insurance business, combined with his expertise in sustainable business expansion and digital technologies, will be a huge asset for Universal Sompo." said Daniel Neo, Regional Chief Executive Officer of Sompo Holdings (Asia) Pte. Ltd. 

Sharad has been employed with SBI General Insurance Company Limited in different roles since its inception in the year 2009, and finally as Head - Distribution till July 2019, appointed as a KMP by the Board of Directors of the Company.

Prior to joining Universal Sompo, Sharad had a specific stint in a new General Insurance project, developing business structure and long-term strategy for a proposed venture. Earlier, he has been employed with ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited, since its inception, in the year 2001, in various regional and national leadership roles. In the past, he has worked with large diversified manufacturing organizations, including, MRF, Bharat Shell and Reliance Retail.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, University of Delhi; and completed a Post-Graduation Program in Management with a specialization in Marketing, 'Certification Programs in Leadership and Management' from the Indian School of Business and Harvard.

Sharad has been a key-note speaker and panelist in international insurance summits, being held in parts of Asia, South Africa and Europe. He has been conferred with awards such as '50 Most Talented Retail Professionals of India' by CMO Asia and '50 Most Influential Digital Media Professionals' by World Marketing Congress.

Sharad added, "The current environment has made the safety of our customers, partners, vendors and colleagues, our topmost priority. We are making our best efforts and certain that together, all of us will get through these challenging times!"

###

About Universal Sompo General Insurance

Universal Sompo is first Public - Private Partnership in Indian General Insurance Industry. The company is headquartered in Mumbai and is a joint venture between Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Karnataka Bank Ltd, Dabur Investment Corp and a leading general insurer from Japan, Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. Universal Sompo has underwritten a Gross Premium of approximately USD375million for the year ended March 31, 2019 and earned profit of approximately USD27.3million.

Universal Sompo is operating across India through its 86 Branches and 17 Zonal Offices. It offers wide range of products for Retail, Rural, SME & Corporate customer segments. It is innovating in health insurance space and offers, both standalone policies and co-branded products in conjunction with its bank partners. It continues to invest in technology ensuring quick and smooth services to customers. It serves customers through a vast distribution network of banks branches, agents, brokers, auto dealers, POSPs, CSCs and so on. The company has also designed specific products for rural and semi urban markets.

About Sompo Japan

Sompo Japan, as a core non-life insurance company of the Sompo Holdings group, provides various products for individuals and corporations. The extensive range of products and solutions includes auto insurance, fire insurance, earthquake insurance, and overseas travel insurance.

At the same time, we are actively pursuing innovation to grow existing businesses and create new value for our stakeholders. Through recent technological innovations, we focus on meeting the changing needs of customers and industrial structure by establishing a specialized organization to explore new business models and fields.

Sompo Japan will continue to provide the highest quality services and solutions from the perspectives of our customers, ensuring their security, health and wellbeing.

About Sompo Holdings (Asia)

Based in Singapore, Sompo Holdings (Asia) Pte. Ltd., is the holding company for its Asia Pacific entities, except Japan, and is part of Sompo Holdings headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. With more than 70 years of trusted presence in Asia, our business spreads across 14 markets with over 4,000 employees in the region.

We are now the Top 10 Largest Non-Life Insurance Companies in Indonesia and Malaysia, and we have forged strategic partnerships to access a wider network of resources and distribution to provide the best solutions for our customers.