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HONG KONG, Oct. 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- MetLife is strengthening its position as a global leader in life insurance by making two key senior appointments to its team in Asia. Together with the Board of its Indian JV partner, PNB MetLife, the company announced today that it had appointed Mr. Tarun Chugh, as Managing Director of PNB MetLife. In this role, Mr. Chugh will oversee all of MetLife's business and operations in India and will continue to drive its growth in the country. Mr. Chugh will be a part of MetLife's Asia leadership team and will report to MetLife's President of Asia, Christopher Townsend and to the PNB MetLife Board. He will start with MetLife as soon as he has fulfilled his obligations to his current employer and his appointment is subject to regulatory approval.
A proven industry leader with over 18 years of experience in the financial services sector, Mr. Chugh joins PNB MetLife from ICICI Prudential Life Insurance where he served as their Chief of Distribution, Operations & Marketing for India and was responsible for day-to-day management of all the business functions.
In addition, MetLife announced that Mr. Rajesh Relan will be appointed as Head of Bank Distribution for the Asia region. In this role, Mr. Relan will be responsible for overseeing MetLife's strategic engagement with bank partners in Asia, assisting its local teams in building sales and service models, broadening sales and distribution channels, and strengthening MetLife's business partnerships. He will remain in his current role as Managing Director of PNB MetLife until Mr. Chugh is formally appointed. Under Mr. Relan's seven year leadership, PNB MetLife has become one of the fastest growing life insurance companies in the country. The cessation of Mr. Relan's current role is also subject to regulatory approval.
Commenting on the appointments, Mr. Christopher Townsend said, "I am delighted to welcome Tarun Chugh to MetLife. Tarun is highly respected in the Indian insurance industry and he brings a wealth of strategic leadership acumen to the business. I'm also pleased to bring Rajesh to our regional team where his deep knowledge of the bancassurance business will help us in driving greater results for MetLife's bank distribution business across the region. These two key appointments will help spearhead the next phase of growth for MetLife in Asia and advance our quest to deliver greater shareholder returns."
