Our Leaders
Board of directors
Mr Lee Patrick Callaghan
Director
(DIN: 07086896)
Mr Mohit Burman
Non Executive Director
(DIN: 00021963)
Mr. PD Narang
Director
(DIN: 00021581)
Mr. Asit Rath
Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director
DIN: 09561510
Mr Suresh Mahalingam
Chairperson
(DIN:01781730)
Mr. Amit Agarwal
Independent Non-Executive Director
DIN: 06858768
Mr. Thomas Bauer
Director
DIN: 10779183
Mr. Gregory Robert Neilson
Director
DIN: 10779181
Lee Callaghan is Aviva plc's General Counsel International Markets and Group Competition Counsel. Prior to this he was the Asia Regional Director and General Counsel for 4 years, based in Singapore. Lee has over 25 years of legal experience in industry. He was called to the Bar in England and worked for 11 years in the UK motor and chemical industries. He has spent the last 13 years at Aviva and was based in Group Legal from 2001 to 2009, during which he supported the Group's expansion into Asia and Europe. In his competition role, Lee has lead on various competition inquiries and market studies and built an internal competition network for response capability across all the jurisdictions in which Aviva operates, together with rolling out the Aviva Competition Guidelines. Lee was part of a team which recently came second in a FT innovation award for instigating virtual competition and European secondments.
He holds a BA in Law, an LLM in Corporate and Commercial law, two post graduate diplomas in specialized law fields (EU law and Competition) and is a qualified Barrister.
Mohit Burman graduated from Richmond College London, in Bachelor of Arts, Business Administration and Economics in May 1989 (Double major: Marketing and General Management) and subsequently completed his Master of Business Administration degree, in December 1993, in Finance from Babson College, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Mohit started his career with Welbeck Property Partnership London and then joined Dabur Finance Ltd. a company specializing in fund and fee based financial activities, as Senior Manager. He played a pivotal role in expanding the group's financial services business into Asset Management, Life Insurance, General Insurance and Pensions. Aviva life Insurance was set up in 2000 in joint venture with AVIVA, the world's fifth largest insurance group. He also started Universal Sompo General Insurance Company in consortium with Allahabad Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Karnataka Bank and Sompo of Japan.
He has to his credit the acquisition of one of the largest privately held FMCG companies in India with sales of US$ 35 million called BALSARA HOME PRODUCTS LTD. in 2004. He later played a pivotal role in the acquisition of FEM Pharma for Dabur India Ltd.
He later on went to acquire Punjab Tractors one of the leading Farm equipment manufacturers in India which he eventually sold to Mahindra and Mahindra after turning the company around. He was also the Chairman of Dabur Pharma Ltd, India's largest Oncology base Pharma Company until the strategic sale to Germany's leading pharmaceutical firm Fresenius Kabi.
He has established Elephant India Advisors Pvt. Ltd. which is the advisory firm of Elephant Capital Plc.,UK. Elephant Capital is an AIM listed fund of London Stock Exchange, which is India focused fund for companies requiring growth capital before the IPO stage and Mohit is the Managing Director.
Mohit is currently the Non- Executive Director of Aviva Life Insurance Co. and Director on board of Dabur India Limited , Eveready Industries India Ltd, and various other companies
Pritam Das Narang, Group Director of Dabur India Limited, secured a Bachelors Degree in Commerce from Punjab University, Chandigarh. Mr. Narang completed his Chartered Accountancy from Chandigarh and immediately after qualifying the final examination, joined Punjab Anand Alakaline Batteries, Chandigarh. After a brief stint with the firm, he joined Dabur India Limited as Management Accountant.
He was elevated to the rank of Executive Director on the Board of Dabur India Ltd in 1995. A financial wizard, Mr. Narang has been the trusted professional who has guided the Group through its patches of rough weather. Over the years, he has achieved great laurels for the Group by establishing several new ventures like AVIVA Life Insurance, besides being a key force behind the acquisition of two overseas companies by Dabur India Ltd - HobiKozmetik Group of Turkey and Namaste Laboratories of the YS. Besides, he has also helped establish several overseas manufacturing ventures for Dabur in Nepal, Dubai, Egypt, Nigeria and Bangladesh besides setting up operations in Baddi, Nawai, Siliguri, Jammu and Pant Nagar.
He is a Director on Board for about 13 Companies and is the main link between the Promoters and the Professional Management of Dabur.
He was a member in Finance, Banking, and Taxation Committees in PHD, ASSOCHAM, and FICCI apart from association with sports/club membership. He is a keen Swimmer, ardent book reader and a Golfer. He practices Yoga daily and during free time listens to Music.
Asit Rath is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director at Aviva India. He possesses 22 years of versatile experience in the Banking and Insurance Industry across different verticals, such as Operations, Bancassurance Distribution, Digital Transformation and Brand Development.
He was among the top of the talent pool at ICICI Prudential Life Insurance from 2005 to 2019 and made his way up the ranks. Prior to Aviva, he served as the CEO of Prudential Myanmar for 3 years where he set up the first fully digital financial services company in Myanmar.
Suresh Mahalingam has been a dynamic catalyst of change for over thirty years in corporate India. He has extensive experience at senior leadership roles in BFSI & FMCG sectors, where he has consistently demonstrated his ability to build and grow businesses. Suresh’s inclusive work style and hands-on approach to leadership has led to his success in setting up and scaling organisations in highly competitive and dynamic environments.
He was formerly engaged as Member – Group Management Council WGC, where he contributed to the formulation and execution plans for establishing WGC as a fully-integrated financial services group with businesses in Lending, Insurance, Asset Management and Strategic Investments. Suresh was also MD & CEO of TATA AIA Life Insurance Company, General Manager HDFC Life and Business Head, ITC. He currently plays the role of advisor to several emerging organisations and is a keynote speaker on multiple platforms.
Suresh completed his Post Graduate Programme in International Management from IMI, India, and completed an advanced Management course from Kellogg School of Management.
Mr. Agarwal is a finance executive with vast experience in a range of industries. He has extensively served market leading Fortune 500 BFSI and technology clients. Amit has 23+ years of experience in the top tier professional services firms (Deloitte PwC and EY). As a lead client services partner at Deloitte, he regularly led large multi partner teams bringing together experts in financial accounting, tax, M&A, robotic process automation, regulatory and consulting services to deliver market leading solutions to some of the largest US/ UK listed companies in the BFSI and technology space. In 2019, he authored a white paper on the future of NEO banks (new age digital first banks) in India. He currently serves as the Audit committee chair of Aviva India and Non-Executive Director.
Thomas Bauer is a senior executive with extensive experience operating at Board level in large complex regulated organizations. He started his career working for General Electric in various roles across Europe, Asia and Latin America. After leading the insurance business for Citigroup in EMEA, he joined Aviva in 2009 as Retail Director for Europe. Thomas worked for Aviva in Asia as Growth & Business Development Director and Strategy & Business Development Director for the European markets. In 2017, he became the COO of Aviva France before moving back to the UK as Group Transformation Director.
Thomas is currently the Group Oversight Director for Aviva India and Director of Strategic Initiatives for Customer & Marketing.
Mr. Bauer has gained Master of Economics & Business Administration from University of Economics & Business Administration - Vienna, Austria.
Mr. Gregory Robert Neilson is the Group M&A Director at Aviva plc with responsibility for overseeing all acquisitions, disposals, and joint venture agreements across the Group. Mr. Greg sits on the Finance Leadership Team and reports to the Group CFO.
He has been in Aviva since 2014, initially within Group M&A, working on transactions such as the acquisition of Friends Life. Subsequently he held senior positions in Aviva Investors as Commercial Director and Corporate Development Director and in UK Life as Managing Director of Equity Release. Prior to joining Aviva, Greg worked for RGA pricing and structuring bulk annuity transactions, financial reinsurance, and closed book acquisitions.
Mr. Neilson is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries and gained an M.A.(Hons) from the University of Edinburgh in Economics.
Leadership Team
Mr. Asit Rath
Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director
Asit Rath is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director at Aviva India. He possesses 22 years of versatile experience in the Banking and Insurance Industry across different verticals, such as Operations, Bancassurance Distribution, Digital Transformation and Brand Development.
He was among the top of the talent pool at ICICI Prudential Life Insurance from 2005 to 2019 and made his way up the ranks. Prior to Aviva, he served as the CEO of Prudential Myanmar for 3 years where he set up the first fully digital financial services company in Myanmar.
Balamurugan Shanmugam
Chief Investment Officer
Balamurugan Shanmugam is the Chief Investment Officer at Aviva India. He has diverse experience in BFSI space across Banking, Asset management and Insurance in his career spanning nearly 30 years. He has been with Aviva India for 15 years contributing to Treasury, Capital management, Asset Liability management, Investment Risk Management and Financial Planning and Controllership. He has previously worked with Central Bank of India, Indian Bank and UTI AMC. He holds a bachelor’s in Chemistry and a master’s in Financial Management.
Sonali Athalye
Chief Financial Officer
Sonali Athalye is the Chief Financial Officer at Aviva India. She has over two decades of experience in Finance, Compliance and Governance functions, primarily in the Life Insurance industry. She has been a founding member of two Life Insurance joint ventures from the start-up phase. Prior to joining Aviva, Sonali served as Chief Financial Officer at RenewBuy.com. She has also been associated with organizations like Pramerica Life Insurance, Metlife India Insurance Company, Tata AIA Life Insurance, to name a few, in the past.
At Aviva, she is responsible for strategic planning, treasury, managing investor relations and financial performance management. She is a qualified Chartered Accountant.
Mr. Joydev Sengupta
Head – Legal & Compliance
Joydev Sengupta is Head of Legal & Compliance at Aviva India. Joydev has joined Aviva India in December 2020. Joydev brings to the table his experience of over 25 years with top law firms in Delhi, and a corporate career with large domestic and MNC financial services entities such as ICICI Bank and GE
Mr. Vinit Kapahi
Head of Marketing
Vinit Kapahi is the Head of Marketing at Aviva India. He has over 22 years of work experience in Marketing and Brand Management and has worked with diverse organizations like Samsung Electronics, General Motors India, LG Electronics and Timex Group. He has been instrumental in driving the brand and communications strategy of the Company. He is a Mechanical Engineer and an MBA from Nottingham Trent University, UK. He is an Alumnus of INSEAD Business School.
Ms. Anaahat Singh
Head of People Function
Anaahat Singh is the Head of People Function at Aviva India. Anaahat is a seasoned professional with about 18 years of rich experience in Human Resources, across diverse industries like Telecom, Banking, NBFCs with brands like HDFC, Muthoot Group, Airtel and Tata. Her most recent stint was within the Startup Ecosystem. She is passionate about Human Resource Transformation and has deep expertise in People Management practices, setting the strategic Human Resource direction, building people competencies, People and Organizational Development Practices. She is a strong believer in upholstering productivity while strengthening the culture of an organization.
Mr. Ajai Kumar Tripathi
Chief and Appointed Actuary
Ajai Kumar Tripathi is the Chief and Appointed Actuary of Aviva India. He has more than two decades of experience in the Actuarial domain across companies like General Insurance Corporation of India (Life Re), Reliance Nippon Life, Life Insurance Corporation of India, Hewitt Associates India Pvt Ltd and Sahara India Life. His previous assignment was with General Insurance Corporation of India, Life Reinsurance Business as an Appointed Actuary.
Ajai has completed Bachelor of Science (Mathematics & Computer Applications), Lucknow University. He is a Fellow member of Institute of Actuaries of India and Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, UK and has qualified for fellowship with Life Insurance as an area of specialization. He is also a fellow member of Insurance Institute of India.
Ms. Komal Jolly
Company Secretary
Ms. Komal is an experienced Company Secretary with over 15 years of experience, a majority of which is with the Tata Group Companies. She also has experience in statutory and regulatory compliance and Legal Contracting, CSR etc. Komal is a member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India since 2006 and also has a degree in law, obtained in 2007 from Delhi University. She has also done Master of Commerce from IGNOU.
Gyanendra Singh
Chief Technology Officer
Gyanendra Singh is the Chief Technology Officer of Aviva India. With a career spanning over 20 years in BFSI technology development, Gyanendra has expertise in application development, data engineering, business intelligence, platform engineering, Info Sec, various Artificial Intelligence disciplines, and vendor management. He holds a degree in Computer Science from the University of Pune and is also a certified Project Management Professional from PMI.
Mr. Gaurav Banka
Chief Risk Officer
Gaurav Banka is the Chief Risk Officer at Aviva India. He is a seasoned risk management professional; committed to fostering risk informed decision making. With a career spanning over two decades, he oversees the development and implementation of a robust risk management framework aligned with business objectives, regulatory mandates and governance best practices. He has a rich experience in varied facets of life insurance industry encompassing Enterprise Risk Management, Governance & Controls, Customer Experience and Process Excellence.