Birla Sun Life eyes Rs 2K cr new biz

Birla Sun Life Insurance company is targeting a new business premium of Rs 2000 crore for the year ending March 31, 2008.

The first year premium income for the nine months ended December 2007 has grown by 114 per cent to Rs 1097.27 crore as against a first year premium income of Rs 512 crore up to December 2006. The new business premium for December was Rs 200 crore.

"We hope to close the year with a new business premium of Rs 2000 crore by March 2008. We will be increasing our branch network to 600 by April and recruiting 10,000 agents by March-end. There may also be another capital infusion of Rs 100 crore before March," Vikram Mehmi, president & chief executive officer, BSLI.

"We have gained back our lost market share. We were ranked ninth in the industry in April 2007 and have now moved upward to the sixth position in the industry as on December 2007," said Mehmi.

"The third quarter has seen the launch of three new plans and a new equity fund by BSLI. Launch of new products, improved productivity of channels, rapid branch expansion and good fund performance have paved the way for BSLI's excellent results." added Mehmi.

BSLI commands 6.13 per cent of the total business among private players in December 2007. The promoters of BSLI have infused capital of Rs 100 crore, thereby taking its total capital to Rs 1100 crore.

The assets under management for Birla Sun Life Insurance is in excess of Rs 6200 crore as on January 31, 2008. BSLI's premium persistency ratio is 97.7 per cent, while outstanding claims ratio is 0.41 per cent.

Currently, BSLI has 340 branches, 86,000 advisors nationally, out of which over 500 advisors are members of the prestigious Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT).

The company has so far insured 2 million lives since inception, comprising over 1.5 million through its individual business and the rest through its group business.