The Hindu Business Line : Bajaj Allianz Life growing at faster clip in South

THE Southern States are the fastest growing areas for Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, and have contributed about 17 per cent of its gross written premium of Rs 250 crore in the first half of the current fiscal.

The South zone's business is next only to the East zone in size, said Mr Ganesh V. Arnala, Senior Branch Manager at Chennai. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Pondicherry make up the company's South zone segment.

Business from the South in the first half of 2004-05 was Rs 42.13 crore, and driven largely by unit-linked insurance policies, he added. New business from unit-linked policies has been the highlight of the entire life insurance market this year.

Bajaj Allianz's rural business, however, still comes largely from traditional favourites such as the endowment policy, said Mr Arnala. Individual agents are the mainstay of Bajaj Allianz's business, and contribute about 60 per cent of it, said Mr Arnala.

Business that comes through using banks as distribution outlets, has also begun to grow, said the company officials. Bajaj Allianz has an alliance with Standard Chartered Bank, Syndicate Bank and Centurion Bank. In the first half of the current fiscal, Standard Chartered generated business worth Rs 55 crore.

Bajaj Allianz's countrywide gross written premium in the first half of 2004-05 was Rs 250 crore. As against that, the company's total business in 2003-04 was Rs 219 crore.