LIC's total premium income up 12% in nine months of FY17

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) posted a robust growth of 12.43 per cent in the total premium income at Rs 1.45 trillion for the first nine months of the current fiscal endED December 31, 2016 from Rs 1.29 trillion in the corresponding period a year ago.
Total assets also grew by 12.81 per cent to Rs 24.42 trillion in the reporting period from Rs 21.65 trillion in the year-ago period.
The life insurance behemoth's gross total income grew 15.76 per cent to Rs 3.37 trillion in the reporting period from Rs 2.91 trillion a year ago. The new business performance saw an impressive increase of 40.11 per cent in first year premium during the period under review.

"Our performance is in line with our expectation. The Corporation has recorded healthy results based on its strong fundamentals and core values," newly appointed LIC Chairman V K Sharma told media here today.
"Trusted customers across the country have supported and enabled us to report a robust financial performance. We endeavour to drive both customer satisfaction and profitability and focus on technology to constantly improve customer experience and organisational efficiencies."
Talking about LIC's expectation from new business for the current fiscal, he said, "We hope to achieve Rs 35,000 crore from new business on the individual basis from Rs 31,000 crore which has been achieved by us so far whereas overall premium target remains unchanged by the fiscal-end."

Pension and group security business also grew by 27 per cent in the period under observation to Rs 51,004 crore from Rs 40,118 crore a year ago. Moreover, under social security schemes, LIC has insured 5.81 crore lives.

Total policy payments amounts rose by 18.63 per cent to Rs 1.12 trillion in the reporting period from Rs 94,576 core a year ago. In the current fiscal, the Corporation has added more than 44,000 agents to the rolls so far.
On the occasion of diamond jubilee, LIC launched a special plan, Bima Diamond. The state-run insurer has sold over 5,86,000 policies under the plan collecting over Rs 322 crore premium.

On the investment part, LIC has been subdued when it comes to investment in equities. It has made an investment of Rs 39,000 crore in equities in the reporting period, down from Rs 64,000 crore a year ago.
But LIC has always been contrarian. Our primary goal
is to invest for long term and not play trader in the market, Sharma said.
LIC has booked a profit of Rs 16,000 crore during the reporting period from Rs 9,500 crore a year ago, he said.
LIC has invested roughly Rs 1.98 trillion in G-sec, SDL and corporate bond in the reporting period, he said.

Insurance industry, he said, is on growth curve and it will grow in double digit. "We are outperforming industry and next year also our focus to outperform will be there."
"But let me tell you that, LIC wants to buy public sector stocks and we don't get it sometimes, recently it has happened in BEL, we have not got a single stock though we had applied for 60 per cent. Market is becoming deeper and more players are coming," he said.
Digital focus has increased at LIC. "Digital, our focus has increased and created mission to provide end to end solutions for all the customers," he said.

LIC has applied for three new products falling under categories like regular, single and group insurance, Sharma added.