Anup Rau steps down as CEO of Reliance Nippon Life

New Delhi: Reliance Nippon Life Insurance chief executive Anup Rau has resigned from the company, purportedly after being asked to quit over alleged non-performance.

Rau, who was chief executive of the company for three years, resigned after the company posted a Rs 200 crore loss for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016, sources close to the company said.

They said Reliance Nippon Life Insurance, a part of Reliance Capital, had asked Rau to resign after profits slumped from Rs 380 crore in the financial year 2012-13 to a loss of Rs 200 crore in the 2015-16 fiscal.

Rau could not be immediately reached for comments.

When contacted a company spokesperson declined to comment.

He had joined the company in 2013 after Nippon Life Insurance, amongst the world's largest life insurers, had taken 26 percent stake in Reliance Life Insurance.

Rau's resignation was accepted by the Board of Reliance Nippon Life Insurance in a recent meeting and the regulator IRDAI has also been duly informed of the same.

Reliance Nippon Life Insurance would be announcing a new CEO in due course.

"Reliance Nippon Life Insurance had sought Anup's resignation for non-performance.

The profit numbers had been consistently shrinking and the cost of acquisition was going up substantially.

The management decided to make some changes at the top in order to arrest the mounting losses and costs," said a source.

Reliance Nippon Life Insurance for the year ended 2015-16 recorded a dip in new business premium to Rs 1,560 crore from Rs 2,070 crore in the previous financial year.

There was also a consistent decline in number of policies sold, which slumped from 7.7 lakh in 2012-13 to 3.6 lakh in 2015-16 along with a low market share of 2 percent during the fiscal.