Star Union Dai-Ichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd., a Joint Venture of Bank of India, Union Bank of India, and The Dai-Ichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Japan, has completed 26 months of business after receiving license from IRDA in December 2008. By the financial year ending on 31st March 2011, the company has underwritten New Business Premium of `1323.89 crores since inception. During the year 2010-11, the company has collected `936.70 crores of Premium.
This performance enabled the company to register a growth of 73.21% in Total Premium over the premium for the year 2009-10. The new business of the company grew by 43.5%.
Even though like many other life insurers the company did not introduce any new version of its earlier popular ULIP Pension Plan i.e., Dhruv Tara, which was withdrawn with effect from 1st September 2010, the company could manage to sell 97,481 policies under Individual Life category.
There is a negative growth in respect of number of policies by about 10%, but the company managed to grow its premium with the help of new versions of ULIP Endowment and Traditional Endowment policies by 43.5%. The share of traditional policies in the total policies sold by the company improved to 30% this year.
The company collected `182.81 crores as Renewal Premium. The company has also successfully settled about 90% of death claims intimated up to 31st March 2011.
Star Union Dai-Ichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. is primarily a Bancassurance company and has been distributing its products through Bank of India, Union Bank of India, and branches of six Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) with whom the company has tied up for business development.
The company has also launched its Agency Channel towards the end of the last financial year; hence the channel could not make any impact on its business for the year 2010-11 but it is expected that this channel will contribute around 10% to total business by March 2012.
The company has insured 3,53,994 lives under its various Group Schemes and has exceeded by a large margin the mandatory condition of 9% of rural business. About 23% of company’s premium has been collected from rural areas.
According to Mr. Kamalji Sahay, MD & CEO, the company is also expected to maintain its low cost operation model; the operating expense ratio for the year is expected to be below 15% of total premium which will be disclosed after its Financial Statements are adopted by the Board.
Star Union Dai-Ichi is not only among the fastest growing life insurance companies in India but is also among the few cost efficient companies in the insurance sector.
