Page 123 - 33 edition GAIF Post-Conference July 2022

Rohit Boda (Managing Director J.B.Boda):

Insurtech will never replace in-person

‘Handshakes’ but will only supplement it.

he J.B.Boda Group was founded by its Late Chairman Mr. Jagmohandas Bhagwandas
TBoda, together with his brother, Late Mr. Dhirajlal Bhagwandas Boda, way back in 1943,
when they set out from the small coastal town of Porbandar to Mumbai, the commercial hub
of India, to start “Reinsurance Broking” operations. In those days, “Reinsurance Broking” was
unheard of in India and the insurance business of the country was in the hands of European
and American giants in the industry. The painstaking professionalism, unimpeachable stan-
dards of conduct, customer-centered business management and reputation for fair dealing of
the founders enabled the Group to develop an organization of respectable size from a relative-
ly modest beginning.
They pioneered Reinsurance Broking in India and today J.B.BODA is the oldest and largest
Reinsurance Broking house in India, Asia, Africa, Middle-East and other emerging countries while
being the first Indian Multinational Reinsurance Broking House operating for over seven decades.
Al Bayan Magazine met Rohit Boda, Managing Director at J.B.Boda, on the sidelines of the
33rd GAIF Conference held in Oran, Algeria and following is the conduct of the interview.

• Can you give us an idea about your company? - The whole world soaked into the digital way, during the pandemic. Climate
- An Indian owned family business established in 1943, apart from insurance change is a hot topic everywhere. ESG is an important subject in every orga-
and reinsurance broking, the Group started related services such as Protection nization.
and Indemnity correspondents representing two clubs exclusively in India-The Though there were commercial setbacks during the pandemic and balance
Shipowners Mutual Protection & Indemnity and Steamship Mutual, Non Marine sheets took a hit, the economies didn’t stop to grow though at a sluggish pace.
and Marine Survey and allied services. During the pandemic, the whole world functioned through the screen. There
Apart from J.B.Boda, I am at the helm of the fitness center-‘Squat Up’ and a were no physical files and the data was all through cloud services. This
company on cryptocurrency and blockchain called ‘Alpha Edge Consultants’. increased the chances of a cyber attack. This obstacle posses an opportunity
I also started my own investment fund in the name of ‘RB Ventures’.
to explore cyber insurance business. However, the challenges of servicing a
The group employs around one thousand professionally qualified personnel
cyber claim still remains nascent.
having nine offices outside India and around 25 offices in India.
It is not only about underwriting cyber business or providing capacity but the
We do all lines of insurance and reinsurance broking business-life and non-life.
clients also faces a dearth of expertise in all these countries. It is the key for us
We also work in the employee benefit and valuation space on the actuarial front
as a fraternity to work together and find a solution for the direct clients. Cyber
- life and non-life.
will grow at its own pace, but the market is watchful.
We have expansion plans in the region Concerning climate change, it is a global problem and it is here to stay. It will
be a challenge to gauge return on the investments to what the world is doing.
• What is the added value behind your participation in the 33rd GAIF
Conference? A lot of important companies such as Tesla and Microsoft are talking about cli-
- GAIF is an important platform for us as it is one of the leading conferences in mate change but lacked any movement. We commit ourselves to sustainabili-
the Arab World and it is extremely essential for us as an Indian broker since we ty but acting upon the same takes time. Nevertheless, for the sake of humani-
have relationships in the market since decades. It provides us with a great ty it is important, that for the next 50 years we consider this project very seri-
opportunity to meet our business partners for a shake-hand post-pandemic and ously and a lot of it will be reflected in the insurance and reinsurance sectors.
to explore new opportunities and avenues. In fact J.B.Boda team do work on the cyber and climate change & the ESG
A lot of mergers and acquisitions are happening in the MEA region and we will be through insurance, reinsurance and alternative risk transfer structures.
happy to contribute to these relationships in a structured and a technical manner.
New capital is flowing in the region with new investments coming in the space. • Do you think insurtech companies will replace insurance companies
With this, there will be need for more reinsurance capacity and GAIF is one one day?
such great platform to explore. - Insurtech endows the insurance business administratively in the conduit of
Expansion plans are on the cards. We will be exploring on a number of con- creation and distribution. It is a technological innovation, created and imple-
cepts not only on the traditional lines but also on the niche areas that we have mented to improve the efficiency of the insurance industry and not replace it.
expertise in. Agriculture is one of our prime focus along with micro insurance At the end, for our industry personal relationship matters, as we are in the busi-
and embedded products in the MEA geography. ness of long term game.
Thus instead of replacing the insurance
• In which countries do you have business, Insurtech shall encourage
offices? etching the new face of the industry
- We have offices in Singapore, U.K., through tech innovations.
Dubai, Kenya, Nepal, Morocco, Egypt,
Bangladesh and Indonesia globally. We Massive opportunity
will also be opening an office in the Arab • How do you evaluate your perfor-
World, especially in the Francophone mance and results in the region?
markets. Inspite of being an Indian bro- J.B.Boda has been active in this region
ker, we have a French lingual team and since many years. We have grown
with more than 7 decades old legacy, we steadily with our insurance and retroces-
are confident in contributing to the mar- sion clients. Our next expansion plan
ket economy here. drawn especially for the Maghreb region
is by establishing a local office to cater
We are happy to assist our existing clients and build relation-
• The topics of the conference in its ships with the new ones.
33rd edition focused on pandemics, The company has catered well through
epidemic, climate change and cyber its facultative and treaty services and
security. What is your comment? now we look forward for the future.
123 AL BA Y AN ECONOMIC MAG - ISSUE 608 - JULY 2022