The Man Behind the Wheel
Anup Rau
Anup Rau took over as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Generali Central Insurance Company Limited (formerly known as Future Generali India Insurance Company Limited) in 2019, putting his vast experience of over two decades in the insurance industry and unparalleled expertise in retail to the best possible use.
Generali Central Insurance Company Limited is a JV between Generali, a 193-year-old global insurance group and 113-year-old Central Bank of India, the first Indian commercial bank which was wholly owned and managed by Indians.
It is no surprise that, under Anup’s leadership, Generali Central Insurance Company Limited was swift to move up from rank 13 and feature amongst the Top 10 Private General Insurers in India. A glowing testimony to his leadership abilities is the fact that the company delivered higher-than-industry growth, improved profitability, productivity, becoming a player of serious scale and consequence and achieved all of this while dealing with the repercussions of a global pandemic and an unprecedented lockdown. It is his employee-centric approach that has resulted in the company being certified as a “Great Place to Work” 6 years in a row and ‘Best Workplaces for Women in BFSI’ and 'India’s Best Workplaces for Women'. Under his watch, the organisation has also become an industry benchmark on Net Promoter Score.
A strong believer of ‘doing good’, Anup has inspired the organization to prioritise ‘Inclusion’ across three key cohorts – women employees, members of the LGBTQIA+ community and Persons with Disabilities (PwD). Today, GCI is a name to reckon with its work in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion space not just as an inclusive employer but also as an inclusive insurer and inclusive corporate citizen. The organisation proudly shares its significant milestone of having 1% of its workforce from the PwD background.
Thanks to his foresight and his willingness to embrace the new normal, whether it is the early adaptation of digital infrastructure and technology or introducing customer-centric product innovations, Anup has unfailingly managed to tackle all challenges head-on.
Armed with an Honours Degree in Economics from the University of Delhi and an MBA in Marketing from the University of Bombay, Anup is an industry veteran with an illustrious career spanning over 23 years. This includes 20 years with some of India’s leading insurance companies as well as stints in companies such as DCW Home products, Duncans Tea, and Gilson Medical Electronics (where he started in 1995) selling everything from pipettes to salt and flour, moving from Delhi to Darjeeling and several other parts of the country, in the process.
A ten-year journey that he embarked on with ICICI Prudential served as a great training ground, enabling Anup to garner rich experience as well as rise through the ranks. During the last 15 years, he has held unique positions to lead companies in both Life and Non-Life Insurance sectors with companies like HDFC Life Insurance as a Chief Distribution Officer, Reliance Nippon Life Insurance and Edelweiss General Insurance, as CEO in both places, before moving to Generali Central Insurance Company Limited in 2019 in his current role.
An avid fan of India’s national sport, cricket, a prolific reader with a personal library of over 4000 books, and an animal lover actively involved in encouraging the adoption of the Indian pariah dog, Anup is a multi-faceted man, constantly seeking to better himself, whether it is in his personal life or professional life.
An impactful CEO who is the recipient of multiple accolades, most recently, the Most Promising Business Leader of Asia Award at the ET Asian Business Leaders Conclave 2020-21, CMO Asia Award in 2021 as the ‘CEO of the year’ in BFSI category and the ‘Business Leader of the Year’ at the 29th World's Leadership Congress Awards 2021. In addition to this, he has been ranked amongst India’s best young CEOs by Business Today magazine (India’s Hottest Executive list) in 2014.
