HDFC Life fresh premium income up 112%

HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company today reported a 112 per cent year-on-year growth in first year premium income in 2005-06 as its average premium increased by 62 per cent to Rs 27,500.

The life insurer's first year premium income in 2005-06 increased to Rs 1,029 crore from Rs 486.15 crore a year earlier. Total premium income, including renewals, rose by 129 per cent to Rs 1,532.21 crore in 2005-06 from Rs 668.40 crore a year earlier.

HDFC Standard Life was the first private company to start operations after the government opened up the sector to private sector over five years ago.

The number of lives covered by HDFC Standard Life through individual policies rose 32 per cent to 1.62 million individuals.

Corporate agency and bancassurance channel currently account for 43 per cent of the company's business.

Deepak Satwalekar, managing director, said the strategy to concentrate on activating a limited number of bancasurance partners rather than going in for signing up a large number of banks in the early years has also paid off.

HDFC Standard Life's offerings of employee benefit solutions, to the corporate sector, through group business, have met with increased success.

Satwalekar said "our excellent fund performance on retirement products and increase in our client base with 150 clients cutting across a spectrum of industries spanning from multinationals to PSUs to the older business houses, have been the highlights of the year."