IDBI Federal aiming at 70% growth in total premium

IDBI Federal Life Insurance today said it is aiming at a 70 per cent growth in total premium collections during the current fiscal.

Established in March, 2008, IDBI Federal Life had recorded a total business premium of Rs 400 crore in the 2009-10 financial year.

"Our premium income during the April-August period grew by 70 per cent to Rs 251 crore. We are hoping to close the fiscal with a similar growth in premium income," IDBI Federal MD and CEO G V Nageswara Rao told PTI.

The company also plans to come with one new product in both the ULIP and traditional segment by the end of the fiscal.

"We will focus on retirement and child products under the category of ULIP and traditional products, for which we would be filing to the regulator, IRDA," Rao said.

IDBI Federal is a joint venture of IDBI Bank, Federal Bank and European Insurance firm Ageas (earlier known as Fortis Insurance International), with a shareholding of 48 per cent, 26 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively.

The insurer has issued over 2.10 lakh policies offering an assured sum of Rs 9,819 crore till July, 2010, and has a presence in 53 cities.

In terms of premium collections from new business, the company's income grew by 23 per cent to Rs 135 crore at the end of August.

"We aim at a similar growth trend in new business income for the remaining half of the fiscal," Rao said.

The company had last month launched a new ULIP product, Federal Wealthsurance Milestone Plan, which was compliant with the new IRDA guidelines.

As per the new IRDA guidelines effective from September 1, the commission paid to distributors and expenses charged by insurers will no longer be front-loaded and will be distributed over the lock-in period of the schemes, which has been raised to five years from three years earlier.

Currently, ULIP products account for about 80 per cent of the total premium collected by the 23 private life insurance companies.