Shriram Life Insurance will add 86 branches to its existing 195 network across the country. The new branches will be opened in northern States of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Punjab and Haryana, according to company CEO Manoj Kumar Jain.
Shriram Life is a joint venture of Shriram Group and South Africa’s Sanlam Group.
“At present, we have 78 per cent of the business in the southern States. The objective of the expansion is to grow in the North, and balance the business at 50:50 ratio between the North and the South,” Manoj Kumar told The Hindu .
As part of the expansion, the company will add over 9,000 agents to its existing 6,000 this fiscal. The group company Shriram Transport, the largest NBFC, is acting as a corporate agent for the insurance firm. Sale of policies to the customers of transport segment is expected to drive revenues in a big way, according to him.
10% growth
Shriram Life sold 1.54 lakh policies last year, and is expecting over 10 per cent growth in business this fiscal. “Our premium income was Rs,616 crore last year, and we are confident of earning over Rs.700 crore this fiscal. Right now, our focus is on group insurance policies as most of the growth is expected from that segment,” the CEO said. This apart, the market share of the company has grown to 3.1 per cent in terms of number of policies, and 2 per cent in terms of value. The solvency ratio of the company stands 5.6 times as against the mandatory 1.5.
The total value of the assets under management was over Rs 2,000. With over Rs 165 crore accumulated profit, Shriram Life claims to be the only profitable firm in the market.
