Why are brokerages betting on SBI Life and HDFC Life among life insurers?

Brokerages are betting on private life insurance players after the Life Insurance Council released data for September 2025, which showed private players experienced robust growth, while Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) witnessed a decline. 

Private life insurers’ individual annualised premium equivalent (APE) increased at a moderate 7.7 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), whereas LIC’s individual APE fell 31.8 per cent Y-o-Y.

 

Additionally, the individual weighted received premium (WRP)—a way for insurance companies to measure their new business more consistently— growth for private players stood at 7.7 per cent Y-o-Y, as compared to 1 per cent Y-o-Y in August 2025. However, LIC reported a dip of 32 per cent Y-o-Y, which resulted in a 6 per cent Y-o-Y decline for the industry in WRP terms.  At 9:18 AM, SBI Life shares were trading higher by 2.11 per cent, HDFC Life up 0.28 per cent, ICICI Prudential Life up 1.02 per cent and LIC was up 0.02 per cent. In comparison, BSE Sensex was 0.13 per cent at 82,280.32. 

 

 

Nuvama Institutional Equities’ top picks include HDFC Life Insurance Company and SBI Life Insurance Company, with SBI Life seeing the least impact on margins amid the ongoing goods and services tax (GST) transition and HDFC Life, among others, gaining the highest market share.  ALSO READ | TCS shares drop as Q2 profit misses street estimates; should you sell?  The brokerage has retained ‘Buy’ on each with a target of ₹920 on HDFC Life and ₹2,250 on SBI Life. Market share gain has been highest for Axis Max Life (94 basis points (bps) Y-o-Y) and HDFC Life (88 bps Y-o-Y).  "While the GST exemption on individual business will support demand in the long run, the companies will need to re-work pricing and processes for now, and either absorb or pass on margin-hit due to loss of input tax credit," Nuvama noted. 

Motilal Oswal prefers HDFC Life and Max Life in the insurance space post the data release. The brokerage anticipates an uptick in the sector in H2FY26, aided by a strong focus on traditional products, improvement in affordability due to GST exemption, and expansion of reach by private insurers through geographical penetration.   ALSO READ | Tata Elxsi Q2 show: Media gains offset by margin stress; 'Sell' calls stay 

The Life Insurance Council released its monthly data for September 2025 on Thursday, which showed SBI Life Insurance, the largest private sector life insurer, posted a 32.14 per cent growth in premium to ₹ 3,953.22 crore compared with the same period last year. HDFC Life Insurance recorded a 10.18 per cent Y-o-Y rise to ₹2,942.3 crore, and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance grew 6.11 per cent to ₹1,761.3 crore.

 

Other major players also posted healthy growth — Axis Max Life Insurance reported a 12.06 per cent increase, while Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance saw a 30.6 per cent rise in premiums.