Ashish Lakhtakia: Raising The Bar At Future Generali
Ashish Lakhtakia
Chief Legal & Compliance Officer & Company Secretary
A science and law graduate, Ashish Lakhtakia also holds a Master’s degree in Labour Laws and Personnel Management from the University of Lucknow. He also is a Fellow member (FCS) of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI). He has worked with Scooters India, Bagrry’s India and has managed highlevel portfolios with industry giants like Aditya Birla, Reliance (ADAG) and Edelweiss group. Under his leadership, Future Generali India Insurance received the Golden Peacock Award 2022 for Excellence in Corporate Governance, as well as Best Governed Company in Unlisted Segment (Medium Category) Compliance at the ICSI National Awards for Excellence in Corporate Governance 2022, where he was also named the Governance Professional of the Year. He was adjudged Best Chief Legal & Compliance Officer & Company Secretary at the 5th Annual India Insurance Awards 2022.
In an exclusive tete-a-tate with CEO Insights, Ashish gives readers a glimpse at how he manages to helm the legal department of a company with a topline of over Rs.4000 crores.
Describe your leadership style and
what has been your success mantra.
A good leader is someone who not only brings sound knowledge and experience to the business but also knows how to come up with a plan of action in anticipation of future changes. That’s why I prefer a proactive leadership approach.
American author John Maxwell rightly said, "If you’re proactive, you focus on preparing. If you're reactive, you end up focusing on repairing". This success mantra has empowered me to make better decisions.
Define Future Generali India Insurance Company as an organization and what are the impacts delivered through your offerings in the insurance services segment?
Future Generali India Insurance is a joint venture between the 190year old the global insurance giant, Generali Group and the Future Group and is currently amongst the top 10 general insurance providers in the country. Our entire ecosystem is oriented towards improving people’s lives through insurance.
At FGII, we follow the core philosophy of leading with simplicity, innovation, and human touch, with the aim of becoming a lifetime partner to our customers and distributors. To do this, we have innovated with several product from policies that cover mental health to urging the hitherto hesitant younger demographic to invest in insurance to creating a completely new category with FG Dog Health Cover, targeted at pet parents. Most recently, we became the first insurer in India to offer equal opportunity to members of the LGBTQIA+ community, by redefining the term ‘family’ and offering our retail health insurance products to same sex couples in live-in relationships.
FGII had the `Best in class’ settlement ratio of 93 percent in FY 2021-22. Also, our consistently improving Net Promoter Score (NPS), from 24 in 2016 to 59.4 in FY 2021-22, bears testimony to our increasing customer connect and trust. We nurture a diverse workforce, and our employee friendly approach has resulted in getting FGII the ‘Great Place to
A good leader is someone who not only brings sound knowledge and experience to the business but also knows how to come up with a plan of action in anticipation of future changes. That’s why I prefer a proactive leadership approach.
FGII's entire ecosystem is oriented towards improving people’s lives through insurance
American author John Maxwell rightly said, "If you’re proactive, you focus on preparing. If you're reactive, you end up focusing on repairing". This success mantra has empowered me to make better decisions.
Define Future Generali India Insurance Company as an organization and what are the impacts delivered through your offerings in the insurance services segment?
Future Generali India Insurance is a joint venture between the 190year old the global insurance giant, Generali Group and the Future Group and is currently amongst the top 10 general insurance providers in the country. Our entire ecosystem is oriented towards improving people’s lives through insurance.
At FGII, we follow the core philosophy of leading with simplicity, innovation, and human touch, with the aim of becoming a lifetime partner to our customers and distributors. To do this, we have innovated with several product from policies that cover mental health to urging the hitherto hesitant younger demographic to invest in insurance to creating a completely new category with FG Dog Health Cover, targeted at pet parents. Most recently, we became the first insurer in India to offer equal opportunity to members of the LGBTQIA+ community, by redefining the term ‘family’ and offering our retail health insurance products to same sex couples in live-in relationships.
FGII had the `Best in class’ settlement ratio of 93 percent in FY 2021-22. Also, our consistently improving Net Promoter Score (NPS), from 24 in 2016 to 59.4 in FY 2021-22, bears testimony to our increasing customer connect and trust. We nurture a diverse workforce, and our employee friendly approach has resulted in getting FGII the ‘Great Place to
Work’ award for the fourth consecutive year now and we have been awarded the ‘Best Workplace in the general insurance industry’ too.
How do you ensure your department stays aligned with the business priorities?
Apart from day-to-day monitoring of all the business operations, we also retain up-to-date information on any regulatory changes introduced by the authorities. Our job involves cross functional communication with various departments, to help them understand any new rules and regulations. We carry out reviews, checks, interactions with the team at regular intervals, and broadcast updates to the concerned stake holders on a realtime basis.
I am also fortunate to work closely with the regulator of insurance companies, IRDAI, which has nominated me to the Regulation Review Committee, tasked with reviewing all applicable regulations and recommending changes, if needed. I am also a nominated member of the Insurance Task Force, which has been put together by the IRDAI in collaboration with the Institute of Company Secretaries of India.
What are the future aspirations you are heading towards?
As a leader with expertise in Corporate & Insurance Laws, Corporate Governance and Compliance, my goal is to always be the best governance professional possible, with zero tolerance for any non compliance. Additionally, I hope to change the way the legal and compliance department is viewed from just as a support pillar to a business enabler.
Any advice for the upcoming leaders?
Never stop learning; always keep exploring innovative ideas and be proactive.
Ashish Lakhtakia, Chief Legal & Compliance Officer & Company Secretary, Future Generali India Insurance
With over two decades of experience working with several industry giants, Ashish comes armed with expertise in corporate law, governance,strategy and corporate secretarial practice. At FGII, he is responsible for legal, compliance, corporate governance, regulatory affairs, security groups and public policies.
How do you ensure your department stays aligned with the business priorities?
Apart from day-to-day monitoring of all the business operations, we also retain up-to-date information on any regulatory changes introduced by the authorities. Our job involves cross functional communication with various departments, to help them understand any new rules and regulations. We carry out reviews, checks, interactions with the team at regular intervals, and broadcast updates to the concerned stake holders on a realtime basis.
I am also fortunate to work closely with the regulator of insurance companies, IRDAI, which has nominated me to the Regulation Review Committee, tasked with reviewing all applicable regulations and recommending changes, if needed. I am also a nominated member of the Insurance Task Force, which has been put together by the IRDAI in collaboration with the Institute of Company Secretaries of India.
What are the future aspirations you are heading towards?
As a leader with expertise in Corporate & Insurance Laws, Corporate Governance and Compliance, my goal is to always be the best governance professional possible, with zero tolerance for any non compliance. Additionally, I hope to change the way the legal and compliance department is viewed from just as a support pillar to a business enabler.
Any advice for the upcoming leaders?
Never stop learning; always keep exploring innovative ideas and be proactive.
Ashish Lakhtakia, Chief Legal & Compliance Officer & Company Secretary, Future Generali India Insurance
With over two decades of experience working with several industry giants, Ashish comes armed with expertise in corporate law, governance,strategy and corporate secretarial practice. At FGII, he is responsible for legal, compliance, corporate governance, regulatory affairs, security groups and public policies.