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MOSL: INDIA LIFE INSURANCE (INSURANCE TRACKER)-Private players’ individual WRP growth recovers after a brief lull

India Life Insurance (Insurance Tracker): Private players’ individual WRP growth recovers after a brief lull

 

Private players reported a sharp pick-up of 14% YoY in individual WRP in Dec’18 (-1% YoY in Nov’18), while industry growth came in at 15% YoY (-6% YoY in Nov-18). Among private players, Birla Sun Life, Tata AIA, Bajaj Allianz and Reliance Life exhibited robust trends. Among the listed players, SBI Life reported strong growth (+24% YoY), followed by Max Life (+7% YoY). HDFC Life and IPRU Life, however, reported a decline of 4% and 5%, respectively. For FY19 YTD, Max Life/SBI Life/HDFC Life’s individual WRP grew by 20%/14%/9% YoY, while IPRU Life reported an 11% YoY decline. LIC, on the other hand, reported 16% YoY growth (+5% for FY19 YTD).

Private players’ individual WRP market share improves to ~64%

Private players reported 56% MoM growth in individual WRP, with their market share expanding 694bp MoM to ~64% in Dec’18. For FY19 YTD, Tata AIA, SBI Life and Birla Sun Life have gained the maximum market share, while IPRU Life has ceded the most. SBI Life remains the largest private insurer in terms of both total and individual WRP, followed by IPRU. On an un-weighted basis, HDFC Life remains the largest insurer on an FY19 YTD basis.

Performance of key private players

The combined individual WRP market share of the top five private players – SBI Life, IPRU Life, HDFC Life, Max Life and TATA AIA – stands at ~69% as of FY19YTD. Bajaj Allianz and more recently Birla SunLife have been showing healthy traction and are emerging as strong contenders to become the sixth largest insurer. Among key listed players, on an individual APE basis.

• HDFC Life reported a 4% YoY decline (+9% YoY for FY19 YTD); total un-weighted premium growth remained robust at ~46% in Dec’18 (~41% YoY growth for FY19 YTD)
• SBI Life reported 24% YoY growth (14% YoY growth in FY19YTD) – lower than the historical run-rate.
• IPRU reported a 5% YoY decline (-11% YoY for FY19 YTD).
• Max Life reported 7% YoY growth (+20% YoY for FY19 YTD) – lowest during the current fiscal.