Max Life Insurance enters pension fund management business

Max Life Insurance Company on Friday said it has ventured into the pension fund management business, as its subsidiary has secured Commencement of Business (COB) certificate from Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA).

Max Life Pension Fund Management Limited, a subsidiary of the life insurance firm, will manage the pension assets with investment choices under the National Pension Scheme.

Set up with initial capital of Rs 50 crore, the fund manager is expected to begin its operation in October, Max Life managing director and CEO Prashant Tripathy told PTI. He also said that the CEO for the pension fund arm has already been appointed and other key persons would be in place soon.

The Pension Fund will manage pension assets for private sector subscribers and government sector subscribers excluding the 'default scheme', aiming to scale asset under management (AUM) to Rs 1 lakh crore over the next 10 years, he said. With this development, the company and pension fund will now cater to all product categories including pension products, annuities, and pension fund management to help customers plan their retirement.

The Pension Fund is also in process of applying for a point of presence (POP) registration to pension fund regulator PFRDA to offer services that will help subscribers open new NPS accounts, he said. "Max Life Pension Fund Management Limited strengthens our presence in the retirement segment. We will leverage our competitive fund management capabilities and the distribution strength of Max Life, including our corporate business teams to spread awareness about NPS and drive value for our customers," he said.

The Pension fund aims to maximize risk-adjusted returns for its subscribers on a consistent and long-term basis while adhering to PFRDA guidelines. Other pension fund managers who manages non-government corpus are -- SBI Pension Funds Pvt Ltd, LIC Pension Fund Ltd, UTI Retirement Solutions Ltd, HDFC Pension Management Co Ltd, ICICI Prudential Pension Fund Management Co Ltd, Kotak Mahindra Pension Fund Ltd and Aditya Birla Sunlife Pension Management Ltd.