Max Life plans to hire 30,000 agents, open up to 100 offices in FY25

Company 'targeting gain in market share', says MD and CEO Prashant Tripathy

Max Life Insurance plans to hire 30,000 agents and open 50 to 100 new offices in the financial year 2024-25 (FY25) to drive premium growth, said Prashant Tripathy, managing director and chief executive officer of the company.

The private insurer's total agent count will rise to 1,30,000 in FY25. It added 47,957 agents in FY24, 54 per cent more than the year before.

“Last year we opened close to 100 offices in new areas, new cities where we were never present. So, we are trying to expand to those cities where we are not present. Currently, we have close to about 466 office units. We want to increase by adding 50-100 offices,” said Tripathy in a video interview.

Proprietary distribution channels – directly created, owned, and maintained by the company – accounted for 40 per cent of Max Life’s new business (annualised premium equivalent, or APE) in FY24. The channel’s business grew by 28 per cent in FY24 to Rs 2,957 crore from Rs 2,307 crore in FY23.

The bancassurance channel, which accounts for 58 per cent of the business, grew by 12 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 4,340 crore in FY24. The company on-boarded 45 new partners in the form of banks, corporate agents and brokers in FY24 – a step that helped its overall sales.

Tripathy said he expected nearly 20 per cent growth in individual adjusted first year premium in FY25, driven by the proprietary channel’s growth. In FY24, the company saw a 16 per cent improvement in premium to Rs 6,961 crore compared to the year before. The company’s total APE expanded by 19 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 7,433 crore on the back of healthy growth in the number of policies.

“We are definitely targeting gain in market share and hence have our internal plans, and we are working towards it. We are expecting to grow it (Individual First Year Premium) in the high teens closer to 20 per cent than close to 15 per cent led predominantly by proprietary channels. We are opening new offices and recruiting more agents for the same.”

Value of new business (VNB) margin, the key profitability margin of a life insurance company, stood at 26.5 per cent in FY24 compared to 31.2 per cent in FY23 as the share of non-par products declined and that of Unit Linked Investment Plan (ULIP) increased. (A non-participating life insurance policy, or non-par, offers guaranteed benefits to a customer as per predetermined choices made by the customer.)

The share of non-par products decreased to 28 per cent of the overall product mix, from 44 per cent last year. The share of ULIP rose to 35 per cent from 27 per cent in the same period. Due to the change in product mix, the company expects VNB margins to remain at 25-27 per cent.

Max Life aims to have 5 per cent extra sales compared to the industry in FY25. “We will grow faster than the industry. Our objective is to be amongst the top three players in both protection and annuity segment,” said Tripathy.

He expected the restructuring of the company, which was acquired by Axis Bank in April 2021, to start after the first half of FY25 and it could take 18 months to complete. Max Life Insurance expects to be listed on the exchanges after restructuring.