Life insurers turn tide in February

 After a slump in sales in January, life insurance companies saw 36 per cent rise in new premium income during February.

According to the latest data released by the Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority, insurers saw their new business income jump 35.52 per cent to Rs 62.51 billion (Rs 6251 crore) in February as against Rs 46.13 billion (Rs 4612.56 crore) in the corresponding month last year. The industry posted a 40 per cent drop in new business collection in January over the corresponding period of the previous year.

Typically, insurance companies collect a large chunk of premium income during the last three months of a financial year. But due to the cap on unit-linked insurance products charges, insurers witnessed a drop in collections. Insurers had said the drop was mainly due to training cost after the cap came into effect from the beginning of the calendar year.

During February, state-owned insurer Life Insurance Corporation of India posted a 31.7 per cent rise in collection, partly due to its net asset value -guaranteed product, Wealth Plus. "So far, we have collected around Rs 30 billion (Rs 3000 crore) under the policy," said a senior executive of LIC. It is targeting to raise around Rs 150-180 billion (Rs 15000-18000 crore.)

Private players recorded a growth of 22.15 per cent. Among big private players, HDFC Standard Life recorded a significant 95 per cent growth in new premium income in February.

At the same time, ICICI Prudential Life and Birla Sun Life saw a decline of 8.49 per cent and 20.81 per cent, respectively.

"We expect the industry to close this financial year with over 15 per cent growth in new collection. The amount of money flowing in insurance will increase, as we move towards the end of the financial year," said an insurance company executive.