SLICL to expand through NEW Channel

Shriram Life Insurance Company Ltd (a joint venture between Shriram Group and Sanlam Life Insurance Ltd, South Africa) would roll out its operations in the northern, eastern and western parts of the country through NEW (north-east-west) Channel.

The company plans to tap Tier-II and Tier-III markets where the penetration level of insurance products is low.

According to Gerhard Joubert, CEO of NEW Channel, Shriram Life said that they expected 85 per cent of the business from Tier-II and Tier-III towns.

He added that the company had decided to recruit 5,000 field sales officers, 500 business managers across 100 cities and 150 branches.

Sanlam Life Insurance Ltd currently has a 26 per cent stake and said that if the government of India revised the FDI (foreign direct investment) limit in the insurance sector to 49 per cent it would increase its equity.

He apprised that they would indulge in ‘below-the-line marketing and advertising campaign through residents’ welfare associations and community activities to mobilise the people in the suburbs to subscribe to insurance polices. "We would hire people from the local communities so that they could inculcate faith among the people for the safe returns," he said.

Joubert said that they experience in the South Africa market would help them to take Indian market in their fold as there were inherent similarities between two economies.

He added that their business development cell was undergoing research to develop the customised and sophisticated risk covers for the Indian market.

Joubert expects is business of Rs 28 cr by March 2010 from NEW channel.

He told that Shriram Life Insurance Company Limited clocked in a business of over Rs 400 cr from southern states last year and was the only private life insurer to register profits in its first three years of operations (Shriram Life Insurance Company, joint venture with Sanlam commenced operations in year 2006).

"As the north, east and west contribute 60% of the total life insurance business in India, SLICL has tremendous scope for growth. We want to have slow but steady growth," he added.