By IANS,
Chennai/Kolkata, Jan 12 (IANS) Private life insurer Future Generali Life Insurance, which has an equity base of Rs.667 crore, plans to infuse another Rs.150 crore by March and partner with a sister company to launch health insurance products.
“We are confident of closing this year with a premium of Rs.750 crore as against Rs.115 crore earned last fiscal. Increased business needs funds to meet solvency needs,” said appointed actuary Goraknath Agarwal in Chennai.
According to him, nearly 55 percent of life insurance sales happen in the first three months of a calendar year and that the company was confident of achieving its target.
“Till December we have earned a premium income of Rs.450 crore,” he said.
The life insurer is a joint venture between India’s Future group having interests in retail and Italy’s Generali group.
Agarwal said the company also planned to tie up with the group’s non-life insurance company, Future Generali India Insurance, to launch health insurance policies.
“While we will cover life mortality, the health insurance part will be covered by the non-life company. For the customer there will be only on contact point,” he said.
In Kolkata, chief of operations Balaram Sarma said the company was planning to launch three more products this quarter. “One could be a traditional product, while the other two could be unit-linked insurance products.”
Sarma was in the city to launch Future Generali Sanjeevani Plus, a unit-linked whole life insurance and investment plan.
The company sells policies out of its 92 branches and 160 Pantaloon and Big Bazaar retail outlets belonging to the Future group. It gets around 85 percent of its business from agents — individual and corporate — and the balance from mall sales and group insurance schemes.
Interestingly, the average premium per policy sold through the retail outlets is higher than those sold through other channels.
“People who come to malls belong to the upper middle class. We collect the lead from the retail outlets and a company person later sells the policy,” said Abraham M. Alapatt, head of brand and corporate communications in Chennai.