Life insurers see 18% rise in new biz premium in Feb

Retail APE for private players up by 23%, whereas group APE declines around 38.1% Y-oY

Mumbai: Life insurance (LI) industry in India witnessed a 18 per cent growth in terms of individual new business annual premium equivalent (APE) in February. The insurance industry put up a strong show in February 2021, reporting retail NBP growth of 27.9 per cent and total NBP growth of 21 per cent Y-oY. Both LIC and private players reported strong growth, pointing to a recovery in ULIPs and non-par products amid the seasonally strong fourth-quarter, says a report by Emkay.

Retail APE for private players grew by around 23 per cent Y-oY (seven per cent growth in January 2021), whereas group APE declined around 38.1 per cent Y-oY (around17.2 per cent growth in Jan'21).

On the basis of total APE, the share of private players increased to 59.8 per cent (57.8 per cent in Jan'21), marginally off its peak of 60.2 per cent in February 2020. The share of retail APE came in at 64.3 per cent against 61.6 per cent in Jan'21, whereas the share of group APE stood at 45.4 per cent against 40.2 per cent in Jan'21.

Talking to Bizz Buzz, Tarun Chugh, MD & CEO, Bajaj Allianz Life, said, "the robust digital infrastructure and constant innovation continue to drive growth, engagement and customer satisfaction with Bajaj Allianz Life. Furthermore, we have added and diversified our distribution channels that has enabled us to continuously reach out to newer customers or get closer to existing one."

Like most industries, the Covid-19 pandemic has fast tracked digital acceptance and growth in the LI industry as well. And how we at Bajaj Allianz Life used this was by simplifying our processes using our strong digital backbone. This combined effort across all functions helped us move the needle in our premium numbers, not only on a month-on-month basis but on YTD basis as well. In February, we have shown a robust growth of 43 percent and YTD growth of 18 per cent, he said

According to Chugh, "We will continue to offer new-age products such as the recently launched Guaranteed Pension Goal along with technology-backed initiatives to ensure our stakeholders' life goals and business goals are achieved."

Industry saw strong growth in February, with overall activity levels and demand coming back strongly. The life insurers are hopeful of seeing a better performance in March.

"Corresponding KLI growth for the month was 29 per cent in individual business and 10 per cent in group business. For the financial year so far (April 2020 to February 2021) KLI individual new business has caught up with the same period last year," says G Murlidhar, MD & CEO, Kotak Life Insurance Company. Given low base, we expect companies to deliver a strong March expectation, he added.