Bajaj Finserv in Talks With Allianz on Likely JV Exits

Bajaj Finserv Ltd. is still talking to Germany’s Allianz SE to part ways in their life and general insurance joint ventures, as the Indian financial services firm seeks greater control of the businesses. 

“You can have only one captain of the ship,” Sanjiv Bajaj, chairman and managing director, Bajaj Finserv told Bloomberg TV in an interview. “We are the captain of this ship and we’ve run this ship well.”

The Pune-based lender had informed the exchanges in October that Allianz was “actively considering” exiting the JVs, in which the German firm holds 26% each.

Bajaj said the partnerships were going “very well”, but “maybe there is a need for greater control.” His comments come even as the federal budget on Saturday proposed allowing foreign investors to own 100% in the insurance sector. 

Bajaj expects the financial sector to gain from the tax concessions for individuals in the budget, saying it will increase consumption and savings.

“When the real economy grows, the financial sector grows two to three times that,” he said, adding his firm is looking at a 20%-25% growth in loans to individuals.

Bajaj sees the inclusion of group company Bajaj Finance and other large peers in the central bank’s list of ‘upper layer’ shadow banks as a positive. While there would be more scrutiny, he said there would be “greater support” for shadow lenders to “build themselves parallel to what banks are doing,” he said.

“So, you don’t need to be a bank now with this kind of support that the enabling regulation provides.”

In the past, there has been market speculation about Bajaj Finance eventually becoming a bank because of its massive scale of operations.

Bajaj made a pitch for credit card licenses to “good quality” shadow lenders, and an option for a liquidity line for the sector from the Reserve Bank of India.