SBI Life eyes 30-35 pc growth over next 3 years

SBI Life Insurance Company is looking at an overall growth of 30-35 per cent for the next two-three years on the back of growing agency and bancassurance distribution segments.
The company is also expecting 40 per cent rise in new business premium this financial year, SBI Life Managing Director and CEO Arijit Basu told PTI here.
"We are looking at 30-35 per cent growth for the next 2-3 years. This will be mainly by maintaining 15 per cent growth in the agency distribution model and high growth expected in the bancassurance model.
"We want to maintain 20-25 per cent growth in our agency model and over 50 per cent in our bancassurance model," he added.

Basu said the company has not fully tapped the bancassurance model, which has immense potential.
"We see huge potential in our bancassurance model, especially with the large network of our partner bank spread across the country," he said.

Further, Basu said it has been an extremely good year, with the new business premium (NBP) growing by 48 per cent during the third quarter of this financial year.
"Our NBP growth has been extremely good and we expect close to 40 per cent rise in NBP in this financial year. We expect good business in the last quarter, which is usually good for the industry as well," he said.

The company increased its headcount by 1,000 during this financial year and is expecting 20 per cent growth in hiring annually.
"We added 1,000 people for our agency model for FY16. Going forward, we expect the headcount to grow by 20 per cent, primarily in the agents segment," he added.
The company is also focusing on IT and digital initiatives.
"We are investing in information technology and processes side that will will benefit customer experience. Besides this, we are also investing in learning and development that will focus on employee development through digital platform," he said.
Going forward, the company plans to introduce a niche product for women under the health segment.

"We are hoping to launch this niche product during this financial year," he added.
SBI Life is a joint venture between State Bank of India and BNP Paribas Cardif.