- LIC’s IPO will increase insurance awareness in the country
10 lakh IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company Ltd (IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company Ltd) with a customer base of more than Rs.15,000 is promoted by two of the largest public sector banks, Bank of Baroda and Union Bank of India. It has been among the ‘Top 10’ private insurance companies this year, registering a faster growth than the life insurance industry on the strength of its unique insurance products and superior services. Its ULIP Equity Funds have given strong returns ranging from 26% to 32% in 2021. IndiaFirst has a good claim settlement ratio of 98.95%.
Regarding the company’s growth, future plans and changes taking place in the life insurance industry IndiaFirst Life Insurance Deputy CEO of Rishabh Gandhi (Rushabh Gandhi) Commercial Editor Vishnu Bhardwaj There was a detailed discussion with, here are the main parts of it:-
Now there is talk of mega IPO of insurance giant LIC across the country. How will this affect the insurance industry?
We are very excited about LIC’s Mega IPO as it will have a very positive impact on the insurance industry. LIC is the oldest insurance brand. Unique company. People are now curious to know who is the best among the other 24 insurance players. LIC IPO is expected to be a good success. This will certainly increase the awareness of life insurance across the country and will accelerate the growth of the industry. By the way, in the last few years, insurance awareness among the people is increasing rapidly. The first Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana increased awareness. Then from COVID also people understood the importance of insurance. Now awareness is increasing with LIC’s IPO. We expect insurance penetration to double from the current 4% to 7 to 8% in the next few years as it is a sunrise industry and has immense growth potential.
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How is IndiaFirst Life performing this year?
We are consistently performing well. Our growth has accelerated this year. Last year we achieved Annual Premium Income (APE) of Rs 894 crore and this year in the first 10 months (April-January) we have achieved premium income of Rs 1,000 crore. With a growth rate of 45 to 50% in the entire financial year, this figure can reach Rs 1,300 crore. This will be our new record. Now we have jumped from 12th position to 10th position i.e. ‘Top 10’ in the private life insurance sector.
What are the reasons behind IndiaFirst Life’s rapid growth?
One is all our marketing channels are doing well. Secondly, our exclusive insurance products are highly appreciated by the people as they meet their future financial goals and requirements. IndiaFirst Life offers a diverse range of 45 types of insurance products with varied investment options to suit all types of customers. Both our promoters Bank of Baroda and Union Bank and their regional rural banks have a large marketing network of 23,000 branches, serving 250 million customers in the country. The trust of these 25 crore customers is on Bank of Baroda and Union Bank and now IndiaFirst is also increasing.
Which type of insurance plans are in high demand at present?
It is such that after COVID, people across the country have become more aware about their financial security. People have started paying special attention to their long term objectives of children’s education and retirement planning. Due to this the demand for guaranteed income and pension schemes has increased significantly. Earlier participating plans and ULIPs with bonus option sold more, but now the guaranteed return insurance plans ie non-par insurance products have started selling the most. They account for 45% of our total sales this year from 25% earlier. In the era of increasing economic uncertainty, people now want guaranteed and tax free returns along with insurance protection and liquidity. The alternative to this is guaranteed insurance plans. That’s why our ‘Smart Pay Plan, Guaranteed Benefit Plan, Life Long Guaranteed Income Plan’ are being liked a lot by the people due to their features. Apart from these, the demand for term insurance has also increased almost 5 times. The share of term insurance plans in total sales has increased from 1% to 5%. Soon we will also launch some new exclusive insurance plans.