LIC surges ahead of private sector players

Times of India 14/10/2017

CHENNAI: LIC beat private players and booked a 38% increase in premium to Rs 15,302.99 crore, even as private life insurance players saw flat growth for the month of September. The PSU's growth can be attributed to its release of new products like Jeevan Umang and Jeevan Akshay and beefing up its agency force.

The private life insurance industry saw a dip of 1% to Rs 5,589.08 crore as most large private sector players like ICICI Prudential and Max Life saw muted growth for the same period. Top player SBI Life reported a 36% fall in premium to Rs 817.81 crore, as did a number of smaller players like Birla Sun Life, Exide Life, IDBI Federal and India First Life.

According to a recent study by Fintelekt, LIC has the most productive agency force with each agent selling 17.12 new policies. This compares to HDFC Life which had the best average for the private sector being able to sell only 6.52 new policies per agent.

Another marked change with this month's premium collection has been the change in the pecking order. HDFC Standard Life, whose recent plans to acquire Max Life fell through due to lack of regulatory approval, surged ahead past SBI Life Insurance to book Rs 1,119.04 crore in premium income and regain its spot as the number one life insurer.

For many years, ICICI Prudential held the top spot as the no.1 private life insurer, till last year, when SBI Life Insurance and HDFC Standard Life outbeat its performance. SBI Life for the most of 2016-17 held reign as the top private insurer.

ICICI Prudential, which has now slipped to 4th spot, has been going less aggressive ever since its IPO as it focused more on improving existing quality standards and sprucing its book to meet with investor approval.

SBI Life's lack of aggression could also be due to its IPO as it undertook a quality over quantity approach ahead of its public debut. SBI Life CEO Arjit Basu in an earlier interview said, "We don't want to grow at the cost of prudence. First and foremost we want to ensure, we will always be well equipped to service claims we are aiming at improving persistency and bringing down instances of misselling."

Another surprise has been the rise of Bajaj Allianz, which has shot past its rivals to gain the second spot, ahead of SBI Life. Bajaj Allianz, which saw changes in its senior management with the appointment of Tarun Chugh as CEO in April was the most aggressive player booking a 90% surge in premium to Rs 841.19 crore this September from Rs 442.70 crore the same period last year.