Future Generali scouting for bank tie-ups to boost bancassurance business

Private life insurer Future Generali is open to having banks as equity partners, according to a top official of the company.

“We are in dialogue with large banks for the bancassurance model. “More banks are interested in equity participation, and that makes the dialogue a lengthy one,” said Mr Deepak Sood, Managing Director and CEO, Future Generali Life Insurance.

In fact, banks are waiting for the insurance regulator to come up with the necessary regulatory framework on bancassurance. “Banks who want to get into these tie-ups are awaiting the regulatory framework,” he added.

He said that banks are critical for the insurance company’s distribution outlook and the insurer is “open to multiple models”.

The insurer, which is looking at bancassurance tie-ups with co-operative banks too, expects 5-8 per cent of its customer base to be from this segment in the first year. “We are willing to customise our products for each of such tie-ups, and we mostly foresee traditional products for this market,” said Mr Sood.

Commenting on his company’s product mix, he said the portfolio includes five unit-linked products and 13 traditional products.

“We are awaiting clearances for three traditional products from the IRDA,” he said, adding that traditional products contribute to 73 per cent of the insurer’s business. This fiscal has been a challenging one for insurance companies, said Mr Sood, and added that the company focussed on its fundamentals.

“We have increased our agent base to 62,000, adding about 10,000 agents this fiscal,” he said. The agency channel contributes to 60 per cent of the insurer’s business. The company has also been able to stabilise its mallassurance model and is looking at scaling up and entering more malls, Mr Sood said.

The mallassurance channel contributes to 10 per cent business now, and is expected to increase up to 15 per cent in the coming years. Future Generali’s expects gross written premium of Rs 700 crore this fiscal, and has already garnered Rs 520 crore of premium so far.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/banking/article2924843.ece