Star Union Dai-ichi to widen presence

Star Union Dai-ichi (SUD) Life Insurance Co Ltd, a joint venture of public sector banks Bank of India and Union Bank of India and Japanese insurance firm Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, is looking at expanding presence in South India by opening area offices for back end support to its customers.

The company would open around 12 area offices in next nine months in South India. It has presence through 1,150 branches of the partner banks in the region, and four regional offices in South, in Chennai, Bangalore, Kochi and Hyderabad.

The expansion is part of its plan to set up a total of 60 area offices throughout the country in next nine months, in two phases. We are planning to open area offices in tier II cities in South India, to improve services to the customers. We expect new business premium of Rs 2000 crore in the current fiscal, out of which around Rs 250 crore will be from the region, said D Krishnamurthy, vice-president, Southern region, Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance.

 

The company has launched two new products, a unit linked insurance product Dhan Suraksha Express and a traditional endowment policy, Defined Growth Endowment Plan, in Chennai, today.

It has procured new business premium of Rs 758 crore during 2010-11, out of which almost Rs 100 crore was from south. The total premium income including the renewal premium of the company was Rs 933 crore, marking a growth of 76 per cent over the last year.

It would also expand its agency channel, which is currently under experimentation with around 300 agents in West Bengal and Bihar. We are thinking to expand the agency and advisor channel to Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab and North Eastern part of the country, said Krishnamurthy. It is expecting the agency channel to contribute around 10 per cent of the total business by March 2012.

At present, SUD is generating business mainly through Bancassurance, through a total of around 6500 branches of the partner banks across the country, and around 4000 branches of Grameen Banks. Apart from the partner banks, it has tie up with seven regional rural banks for business development.

Bank of India owns 48 per cent stake, while Union Bank of India and Dai-ichi Life Insurance has 26 per cent stake each in SUD Life Insurance.