IRDAI gives nod to Axis-Max Life deal: Experts discuss the way ahead

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has given a go-ahead to Axis Entities’ stake acquisition in Max Life Insurance. With this, Axis will become a joint venture partner in Max Life.

Jigar Mistry, Co-Founder of Buoyant Capital and Prayesh Jain of Yes Securities shared their views and outlook.

“Insurance industry itself looks reasonably well. With Axis management coming in, the board would get restructured. So the integration will improve even further. Max can continue to grow faster than the industry. It is still a smaller player relative to the other ones. There are still interesting times beyond the deal as far as fundamentals are concerned,” said Mistry.

Jain of Yes Securities noted that Max outperformed even the likes of HDFC Life in the past six-eight months.

“Its performance is significantly better than both SBI Life Insurance and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. It deserves a multiple which could be at a slight premium to SBI Life and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance,” Jain said.