Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is reportedly in talks with headhunters to recruit a chief executive for the proposed insurance business of Jio Financial Services (JFSL).

Addressing shareholders at the company’s 46th annual general meeting on Monday, chairman Mukesh Ambani said JFSL will venture into insurance, with presence in the life, general and health insurance segments.

A Bloomberg report on Wednesday said RIL is in discussions with global and domestic executive headhunters to find a leader for the insurance business. Its executives have reached out to several firms in recent weeks to help them vet talent across the life, health and general insurance segments.

Korn Ferry and Spencer Stuart Inc were among the firms which held talks with Reliance representatives. The chief executive will be hired before early next year, the report said.

Shares of JFSL were locked in at the upper circuit for the third straight session and it settled at Rs 232.70 on the BSE, marking a gain of 4.99 per cent or Rs 11.05 over the last close.

The company had a market valuation of Rs 1,47,840.92 crore on the BSE. In volume terms, 72.41 lakh shares were traded on the BSE while 2.14 crore shares were traded on the NSE.

At the RIL AGM, Ambani said Reliance had capitalised JFS with a net worth of Rs 1,20,000 crore to create one of the world's highest capitalised financial service platforms on inception.

The insurance entry comes after the company announced a joint venture with BlackRock for the mutual funds business. JFSL will be looking to leverage the huge mobile phone subscriber base of Jio to sell its products, including payment services. The telco has 45 crore million mobile phone subscribers.

The RIL chairman said in insurance, JFSL will offer a seamless digital interface, potentially partnering global players.

JFSL will use predictive data analytics to co-create products with partners and cater to customer requirements.

The company will look to fill a gap in the financial needs of the informal and underserved sectors in rural, semi-urban, and urban areas.