Bajaj Allianz Life maintains profitability, posts 105% growth in financial inclusion segment in FY16

 The Company’s shareholders’ profit stood at Rs. 879 crore in FY16, as against Rs 876 crore in FY15. Among the non-bank promoted life insurers, the Company secured the top position in terms of new business.

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance witnessed 105% growth in new business through the Business Procurement channel to Rs 533 crore in financial year 2015-16, as against Rs 260 crore in FY15. New partners in the financial inclusion (micro insurance) segment, especially Regional Rural Banks and Micro Finance Institutes, have substantially contributed to this sharp rise.

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance reported improvement in 13th month adjusted for limited premium products persistency to 63% in FY16, as compared with 59% in FY15. 25th month and 37th month persistency ratios have also gone up.

The Company also reported 27% decline in customer complaints in FY16.

The Claim Settlement ratio for this fiscal stood at 98.07%.  Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance paid a total of 1,65,244 claims out of the 1,68,501 payable claims; this is one of the highest among the private players.

During the last fiscal, fifteen new products with better customer value propositions were introduced to boost growth, including a ULIP with assured return - Bajaj Allianz Life Principal Gain,. The Assets Under Management (AUM) of Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance grew 1% to Rs. 44,107 crore (Rs. 43,554 crore) as on March 31, 2016.

The Company has been able to reduce overall expenses by 5% in FY16 over FY15 and aims to bring down the expense further in the years to come.

It continued to maintain its strong solvency position in FY16. As on March 31, 2016, the solvency ratio stood at 793%, as against 761% as on March 31, 2015. This is very high as compared to the regulator’s mandatory solvency ratio of 150% set for the life insurers.

Anuj Agarwal, MD & CEO, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, said: “Our micro insurance business has seen significant growth over the previous year. While the new regulatory guidelines on Micro Insurance created newer avenues for selling such products, our new partners have generated substantial business. We have recruited 28,000 new agents in the last fiscal. New products including riders and 21% growth in the group business have resulted in overall rise. We are confident of improving the growth trajectory in the coming year as well.”