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India, which is among the fastest-growing insurance markets in the world, is poised to emerge as one of the top six insurance markets by 2032. Backed by the government and with regulatory support, health insurance will continue to spearhead this growth.
Nearly 20 per cent of Future Generali India Insurance Company’s gross direct premium income comes from health portfolio. While health and motor insurance are the two biggest contributors to the company’s revenue so far, it has been witnessing a good demand coming in from emerging segments such as home, lifestyle, and travel insurance.
In an exclusive interaction with businessline, Anup Rau, MD & CEO, Future Generali India Insurance, spoke about the key changes in consumer behaviour post pandemic and the company’s strategies for growing its business by nearly 20 per cent crossing the ₹5200 crore-mark this fiscal.
Excerpts:
Now that the euphoria created by Covid leading to surge in sale of health insurance policies has come down, how do you see the overall health insurance space growing? Do you think the market has matured from pre Covid times?
No doubt the pandemic led to a major shift in consumer behaviour —individuals woke up to the realisation that health is an asset that needs financial protection. Consequently, to meet this demand, insurers have started offering more innovative products, through non-traditional distribution networks, targeting hitherto underserved demographics. These are clearly long-lasting effects as we continue to witness an uptick in the sector three years later.
Driven by a pick-up in health and motor insurance segments, the non-life insurance industry has grown by over 16 per cent in FY23 compared to 11 per cent in the previous year, as per a CareEdge report. The health insurance segment is on track to breach the ₹one lakh crore mark in FY24. This is an accurate prediction, given the fact that the health insurance portfolio has garnered over ₹90,667 crore, showing a growth of 23 per cent in FY23, according to the General Insurance Council. Health insurance constitutes over 35 per cent of total non-life premium in FY23.
On the whole, India is among the fastest-growing insurance markets in the world and is poised to emerge as one of the top six insurance markets by 2032. Backed by the government and with regulatory support, health insurance will continue to spearhead this growth.
What is the share of health insurance to your total business? How do you see it growing?
At Future Generali, in FY23, our Gross Written premium (GWP) grew by 10 per cent to around ₹4,627 crore. The high interest garnered by health as a category has been a significant contributor to our growth. We have witnessed a huge uptick in the segment and expect this trend to continue in the mid-term. Our overall health portfolio is about 20 per cent of our gross direct premium income.
Anticipating further growth in our health insurance business, we have worked on strengthening our provider network and have focused on innovative products and services.
Which are the key areas of business growth for you? How much does motor account for your total business? Can you throw some light on your other business verticals that is travel insurance and lifestyle insurance?
With growing awareness, insurance penetration is picking up across the country. While health and motor insurance are the two biggest contributors in our revenue so far, we have witnessed a trend where emerging segments, such as home, lifestyle, and travel insurance, are in demand.
The motor insurance segment alone has contributed to nearly 37 per cent of our overall premium collection during FY23.
Three years post-Covid, the world has opened up, as have the markets. In fact, both business travel and leisure travel has increased manifold over the last year. There is pent up demand in the industry both for travel and lifestyle and that is definitely working in the favour of insurance companies, including us.
What is your gross premium at present? What kind of growth you are expecting this fiscal?
Future Generali has always been operationally efficient and we achieved break-even in 2013-14, in our sixth year of operations. In FY23, our GWP grew by 10 per cent to around ₹4,627 crore and net profit stood at close to ₹106 crore. In keeping with this upward trajectory, we expect a growth of about 20 per cent, crossing the ₹5200 crore mark this fiscal.
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