Bharti AXA Life renewal premium up 20 per cent in H1

Bharti AXA Life Insurance, a private life insurer, has recorded 20 per cent growth in renewal premium in the first half of this fiscal, at Rs 541 crore as against Rs 453 crore in the same period last year.

New business premium also saw a growth to Rs 415 crore (Rs 398 crore). Total premium recorded 12 per cent increase in April-September 2019 to Rs 956 crore (Rs 851crore), a top company official said.

Also read: Bharti AXA Life new business premium rises 25 per cent in FY19

Assets under management at end of September 2019 grew to Rs 6,904 crore, up 30 per cent over Rs 4,928 crore in end September 2018.

“We maintained growth momentum across key metrics of the business in the first half year of this financial year. Our customers have also reaffirmed their faith in us which is reflected in the significant growth in renewal premium income. We aim at enhancing our agency force and agent productivity and strengthening bancassurance through strategic alliances to achieve stronger growth by the end of this fiscal,” Vikas Seth, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Bharti AXA Life Insurance, said.

The company plans to expand its distribution footprint across the country in the current financial year.

Bharti AXA Life Insurance, a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and French insurance major AXA, recruited 7,167 agents in the half-year ended September 30, 2019, taking the overall advisor count to 41,722. This was up 9 per cent over 34,555 advisors during the April-September period of 2018-19.

“Apart from focusing on building our agency and direct business, we are also keen to strengthen the bancassurance channel as we see it as a key distribution and growth opportunity. We are exploring multiple bancassurance options to achieve our long-term growth aspirations and increase India’s insurance penetration", he said.

It may be recalled that Bharti AXA Life had this financial year entered into a Bancassurance alliance with Karnataka Bank.

"We will strive hard to create customised insurance solutions for Karnataka Bank's customers", Seth said.

Seth also said that improving the company's year-on-year persistency and overall renewals will remain one of the core focus areas for this financial year. “Automation is another key area for us as we want to make our processes and systems more robust and scalable”, he added.