Page 38 - Life Insurance Today April 2018

Life Insurers focus Single- Private life insurers see slowdown in growth

premium plans to in- Growth slowed down for private insurance companies with individual APE (an-
nual premium equivalent) business increasing 11% year-
crease their revenues on-year (y-o-y) in February. Private life insurers recorded
Life insurers, who generally focus a 28% y-o-y growth in individual APE business during
more on the 11 month timeframe for 2017-18. The slowdown
tr a di- was led by ICICI Prudential Life which de-grew by 16%
tional y-o-y due to high base effect.
premium However, HDFC Standard Life and Max Life have grown steadily at 22% and 33%
plans are y-o-y respectively. New business collection for the life insurance industry in APE
giving re- terms went up 13% y-o-y in February. High growth was seen in group businesses
newed thrust on Single Premium of HDFC Standard Life and SBI Life, which saw robust increase in group term
products to get a share of house- and group credit life segments.
hold savings that are otherwise find- The average premium per policy, however, continues to increase for private
ing their way into the capital mar- players. This is largely because many private insurers have been seeing good
kets through systematic investment
plans (SIPs). growth in high ticket size ULIPs(unit-linked insurance plans). While LIC's (Life
Insurance Corporation) ticket size has decreased as it grows its low-margin
In February, single premiums ac- group business, the share of private insurers in this category has declined in
counted for 73% of the total pre- total policy volumes to 24% from 29% in December 2017.
mium income at LIC, up from 69% in "Average ticket size for private players is quite high compared to LIC as they
January. For private players, the
have been growing strongly in ULIPs," analysts at brokerage firm Prabhudas
February share stood at 37%, com-
Lilladher said.
pared with 27% in January. Since
lump-sum cash is paid upfront in Though LIC's market share improved slightly to 47% during February it has de-
single premium products, the aver- clined 2% so far in 2017-18. The market share of top-five private players - SBI
age premium per policy increased Life, ICICI Prudential Life, HDFC Standard Life, Max Life and Kotak Life - has
12% year on-year for private players improved by about 4.3% to around 69% pointing towards continued polarisation
and 7% for LIC. of the industry "We note that among the top five private players the bulk of
the market share gains has been captured by SBI Life and HDFC Life.
ICICI Prudential Life is focusing on
selling single-premium products, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance launches new Multime-
which the company believes are
customer-centric, said Sandeep dia campaign for Term Plan
Bakhshi, MD and CEO ICICI Pruden- ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has launched a new multimedia brand campaign
tial Life Insurance. to highlight its term plan - ICICI Pru iProtect Smart. The
campaign highlights that the product not only offers life
Insurance companies largely write
credit life and individual annuities in cover that secures one's family but also gives an option
to cover oneself from 34 critical illnesses; thus making it
their single-premium policies. The
an ultimate protection plan.
regulator has revamped unit-linked
insurance products through a num- iProtect Smart, a term life cover plan, also offers a living
ber of product regulations in 2010 benefit for the policyholder - a 34 critical illness cover that
and 2013. The industry believes it provides the claim amount upfront on detection without any bills or
currently offers the best customer hospitalisation.
proposition among insurance sav- Puneet Nanda, Executive Director, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, said, "iProtect
ings products. Smart is a unique term plan that strikes the right balance between health and
With the focus on single premium, protection in one policy - life cover for family's security and also an option to
cover oneself against 34 critical illnesses, thus making it a must have protec-
private players' market share in to-
tion plan. We, at ICICI Prudential Life, have always believed in offering unique
tal annualised premium equivalent
declined to 54.6% in February 2018. products that help to secure the lives of the policyholders and their depen-
dents in every way."
38 April 2018 Life Insurance Today