Managing Director – India Platform — Insurance Distribution Network

The mandate

An institutionally backed group has acquired several insurance brokers and specialist distributors, creating national reach but not yet a national business. Insurer relationships, placement practices, client ownership and service operations remain anchored in the acquired firms. Revenue has held up, although duplicated management, uneven renewal discipline and different approaches to advice now limit the value of scale. The board is appointing a Managing Director to bring the India platform under single P&L and conduct accountability.

The executive will lead approximately 700 employees and material partners across corporate broking, affinity distribution, employee benefits, advisory sales and placement support. The accountable revenue, premium and investment perimeter is approximately ₹7,800 crore. Some acquired founder-leaders remain active; others are approaching the end of transition arrangements. The task is to create a durable institution without breaking the trust through which clients and insurer capacity were originally won.

The MD must choose where scale genuinely improves outcomes. Common data, compliance, claims advocacy, carrier management and selected operations should become more consistent. Specialist risk advice and sector relationships may need protected autonomy. The answer cannot be a loose federation that never realises value, nor a centralisation exercise that mistakes uniformity for integration.

India growth is also part of the brief. Underpenetrated mid-market segments, digitally assisted affinity propositions and cross-referral from adjacent group businesses present opportunities, but each carries licensing, suitability, data-consent and economics questions. Capital will follow a coherent thesis rather than a collection of local ambitions.

Why this seat is open

The position is a planned new appointment approved when the acquisition programme moved from deal completion to operating integration. Until now, the group CEO and acquired managing directors have shared decisions. That arrangement preserved continuity during closing but is unsuitable for the next phase. The board has allowed a deliberate search so the incoming leader can join before legacy transition agreements expire and before the following annual carrier negotiations.

What you will own

• Set the India strategy by client segment, product line and distribution channel, identifying which propositions receive capital and which remain partner-led or are exited.
• Carry the combined P&L and establish a bridge from premium and commission revenue to fully loaded contribution, renewal quality and cash.
• Define decision rights between the platform, acquired businesses and specialist practices, including client ownership, referrals, placement and hiring.
• Create a unified insurer strategy covering capacity, concentration, service, remuneration disclosure and escalation of disputed claims.
• Strengthen advice, sales-practice and licensing controls while preserving independent oversight by compliance and risk.
• Integrate client and policy data sufficiently to support renewal, cross-referral and service without compromising consent or confidentiality.
• Select the India leadership team, settle founder transitions and build successors for practice and regional roles.
• Represent the platform with regulators, insurers, priority clients and the group board during material integration choices.

The first 12 months

The first 75 days should establish a client, carrier and economic baseline. Review the largest renewals, revenue concentrations, contingent remuneration, claims escalations and acquired obligations. Meet founder-leaders and employees below them, alongside insurers and clients whose relationships cross business boundaries. Identify integration actions that could imperil an approaching renewal and sequence them accordingly.

By month four, present the target operating model, portfolio choices and two-year investment case. Name activities that will become common, those that remain specialist and the economic or client reason for each exception. Agree leadership appointments and transition dates. Establish one set of principles for client ownership, referrals and carrier engagement before changing incentive credit.

Months five to nine should produce visible integration: common renewal and placement governance, coordinated insurer negotiations, data for the first priority client segments and removal of duplicated support. Launch no more than two growth propositions, each with customer, conduct and contribution proof points. Complete founder transitions without leaving unowned client books.

At year end, organic revenue in chosen segments should exceed the rebased plan by 10%; renewal retention should remain above 92%; at least 70% of controllable support duplication should be removed or committed through dated actions; insurer concentration outside approved appetite should decline; and 95% of priority client relationships should have a named lead and succession cover. No material advice or disclosure failure arising from integration is acceptable.

What the board will measure

• Organic growth and contribution after excluding acquired revenue and one-off integration cost.
• Client renewal, claims advocacy and cross-referral conversion across former organisational boundaries.
• Carrier concentration, placement quality and transparency of remuneration.
• Synergy captured without unplanned loss of critical producers or specialist capability.
• Completion of founder and leadership transitions with continuing client coverage.
• Regulatory confidence and consistency of sales-practice evidence across the network.

The person

You have at least 28 years in insurance broking, distribution, wealth, employee benefits or a closely comparable regulated intermediary. Recent experience should include CEO, managing director or substantial country leadership with a P&L or premium perimeter of at least ₹4,550 crore and 700 or more employees and partners.

You have combined businesses whose value resided in personal relationships and can show what you centralised, what you protected and why. The board will examine client and producer retention, integration economics and the integrity of insurer or regulatory relationships after the initial transaction narrative faded.

You are comfortable with entrepreneurial leaders but do not govern through personal accommodation. You can make a disputed client-ownership decision, challenge revenue that carries poor conduct economics and explain the same choice consistently to a founder, an insurer and the board. Experience limited to a single product manufacturer will need strong evidence of intermediary and multi-carrier understanding.

Compensation and terms

Fixed compensation is expected at ₹5.0–7.5 crore plus performance variable and long-term incentive. Objectives will cover organic growth, contribution, integration value, client and producer retention, control quality and leadership succession. The permanent position is hybrid in Mumbai. Its planned timetable permits a considered release from a current role.

Confidentiality

The acquiring group, component businesses and transition arrangements will be named only after qualification and reciprocal confidentiality. Market descriptions and numbers are blended to resist identification. Candidates should disclose a possible conflict to the search adviser without approaching any organisation that appears similar.