Page 12 - Insurance Times March 2019

Private Life Insurance



PNB Metlife IPO likely HDFC Life's reports 41% growth
next fiscal HDFC Life's for the nine months ended December reported 41% growth in new
business premium and a value of new business
Punjab National Bank may look at
(VNB) margin of 24%. Its embedded value has
listing its life in-
grown 20% from a year ago.
surance com-
pany next fi- The management has indicated that its focus on
nancial year protection plans continues and that the share will
and is currently rise, although slowly, as the ticket size is lower
in the process than other plans.
of selling its 4 The expense of management ratio has dropped from 19% a year ago to 17%.
percent of 30 Given that its tie-ups with banks and the network of HDFC Bank Ltd as well as
percent stake in PNB Metlife. parent HDFC (Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd) provide enough band-
PNB Metlife has been talking about width to push products, the life insurer doesn't need to put in too much money.
an IPO since 2016 and the issue is ne- However, the commissions for renewal premiums have gone up sharply, the
cessitated by the its partner Metlife management said, indicating that agents are being compensated for making sure
Inc's plans to exit the company. persistency ratios are high. HDFC Life may have an enviable product mix, but
PNB Metlife, is a joint venture be- nearly 60% of its portfolio is still made up of market-linked products. This has
tween PNB with a 30 percent ramifications as the insurer's investment income was hit because of market risks.
shareholding, Metlife owns 26 per- Also, persistency ratios drop in such products and the 61st month ratio was 44%.
cent, Elpro 21 percent, M Pallonji &
Company 18 percent, and Jammu & HDFC Life, and upGrad to launch online life insurance
Kashmir Bank owns the remaining 5 course
percent stake.
HDFC Life Insurance has partnered with online education company upGrad to
"We will enter the market at the
launch an 11-month post-graduate programme in life in-
right time with an IPO for PNB surance. On completion of the course, the students will
Metlife. Right now the market is sub- become a part of the HDFC Life sales team. The course fee
dued. So maybe next financial year is Rs 99,000, and students can earn Rs 1.1 lakh through on-
we will hit the market," PNB Manag- the-job training and internships.
ing Director and Chief Executive
Sunil Mehta told. The programme includes a two-month online course, two-month on-the-job
training and a seven-month internship with HDFC Life. Naik said this follows
When asked the amount that the
the blended learning model with a mix of online courses and offline training.
bank is looking to raise from stake in
PNB Housing Finance, Mehta said, Assignments and quizzes are in-built into the course. Naik said they will be able
"that will depend on the offers on to take in 4,000-5,000 people into frontline sales through this programme.
the table. It is premature to talk "If this programme works well, we can hire all frontline sales employees through
about it right now." this route," he added.

12 The Insurance Times, March 2019