JLT makes major India and China market moves

JLT Asia’s sales and marketing director Richard Roper has told StrategicRISK that the broker’s acquisition of a 26% shareholding of Chennai and Mumbai-based Independent Insurance Brokers (IIB) is part of a strategy to realise some of the “massive untapped potential” In India.

“There’s potential there for everybody,” he said,” and there’s a massive war for talent going on in India at the moment.”

Roper also told SR that JLT’s latest move will soon be followed by a strengthening of the broker’s interests in China - all part of JLT’s aggressive ‘Grow Asia’ strategy.

Regulatory approvals were given today to JLT’s acquisition IIB, which is an insurance and reinsurance subsidiary of the Sunidhi Group, an Indian financial services organisation.

“The idea is that we collaborate with them to build a specialty insurance and reinsurance broker across India,” Roper explained

While JLT already has a significant presence in India, with its largest office outside London in Mumbai, employees there only provide analytical, actuarial and legal, financial and processing services to the broader JLT Group. 

“We’ve got over 1000 people in India in Mumbai but that’s a worldwide shared service centre,” Roper explained.

“This will be the first time that we are actually providing services to Indian businesses.”

Head of JLT Asia Duncan Howorth (pictured) said that the move was part of the broker’s “strategy of expanding our capabilities in markets where long-term growth is supported by fundamental macro-economic trends and a growing demand for specialist expertise”.

“We have worked with IIB for several years in the Energy and Aviation sectors and have always been impressed with their client first approach and professionalism,” Howorth said.

“This investment provides JLT with a strong and established platform in a large and rapidly growing market where we see huge long-term growth potential.”