MD & CEO’S MESSAGE
BUILDING ABRIGHTER FUTURE
Dear Stakeholders,
I am pleased to share that SBI Life delivered another year of impeccable performance on all fronts. Our strong brand recall, unparalleled distribution network, robust digital platforms, rich management expertise and invaluable human assets have enabled us to maintain our leadership in the private life insurance space.
As always, Customers remain at the heart of our actions. The relentless efforts of all our stakeholders has played a crucial role in achieving the ultimate goal of a happy customer. We crossed the `400 billion mark in GWP, covering the lives of 8.9 million customers in FY20 with an AUM of `1.6 trillion. We continue to focus on developing solutions that delight customers and, in turn, contribute to higher profitability and sustainable value.
ROBUST ALL-ROUND PERFORMANCE REFLECTS FUNDAMENTAL STRENGTH
In FY20, we continued to be India’s leading private life insurer by IRP and individual NBP. We were able to outperform the industry average despite a challenging macroeconomic environment and large-scale disruptions at the end of the fourth quarter due to the pandemic outbreak.
We registered a 20.3% growth in NBP wherein our individual NBP grew 16.7% y-o-y to `112.45 billion. The continued focus on the protection business resulted in an overall growth of 26.7% with NBP for individual protection registering an impressive growth of 42.5%. Our renewal premiums grew 25.2% to `240.42 billion and GWP grew 23.2% to `406.35 billion. Growth in single premium at 42.9% enabled us to cross the `400 billion mark in GWP.
We have maintained stable profitability during the year under review, with PAT increasing to `14.22 billion from `13.27 billion. On an actual tax rate basis, IEV rose to `262.91 billion, as on March 31, 2020, from `224.02 billion as on March 31, 2019. VoNB grew 17% to `20.12 billion, while VoNB margin improved from 17.7% to 18.7%. The 13th month persistency ratio improved to 86.1% from 85.1%, which reflects the commitment to provide customers with continued cover. Mis-selling ratio dropped to 0.09% from 0.10%. Surrender ratio came down significantly from 5.24% to 3.91%, which testifies to the increased trust the customers bestow on our ethical selling practices. We did not declare any interim dividend during the period under review due to restrictions imposed by the regulators in light of COVID-19. However, we see this as an opportunity to enrich the shareholder wealth further.
TRANSFORMING OUR BUSINESS THROUGH DIGITALISATION
Our wide presence across the country, including in remote rural areas, has set a strong foundation. Our continuous investments in strengthening our digital capabilities enables us to create wealth, increase productivity and scale up sustainably. The bancassurance channel has been expanded looking at the potential customer base. Life Mitras (insurance advisors) and Certified Insurance Facilitators (CIFs) are in place with adequate training and resources to tap into the wide range of opportunities in the life insurance market.
Digitalisation not only enhances customer value, but also improves ease of doing business. Our technology focus since inception enabled us to swiftly overcome the challenges of providing interrupted services during the nationwide lockdown. We fully implemented the new policy management system, Ingenium. That being said, we understand that digitalisation comes with its inherent risks. To mitigate cyber security risks, preempt cyber-attacks and proactively respond, a Security Operation Centre has been set up to monitor all critical IT devices, applications and websites, among others.
We outperformed the industry average, despite a challenging macroeconomic environment and large-scale disruptions at the end of the fourth quarter due to the pandemic outbreak.
WITH LEADERSHIP COMES RESPONSIBILITY
We have always endeavoured to contribute to the society by facilitating a better standard of living. During these pandemic-induced challenging times, we have demonstrated our commitment by making substantial contributions to the COVID-19 relief fund and disaster relief funds for improving healthcare facilities and education infrastructure. Various initiatives were also undertaken to create awareness on our varied insurance products to drive informed decision-making on part of our customers.
ACKNOWLEDGED FOR DELIVERING EXCELLENCE
We continue to strive for excellence across all spheres. Recognitions of our concerted efforts at prestigious forums testify to our value-driven commitment towards customers and stakeholders. We were conferred with the prestigious ‘Life Insurer of the Year 2019’ award by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce (FICCI) and the ‘Best Life Insurance Company 2019’ award at the Emerging Asia Insurance Awards by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC). We also won the ‘Gold Shield’ for Excellence in Financial Reporting for FY19 by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), two years in a row. In addition, we won the Smart Life Insurance Company at the ET Insurance Summit 2019 by The Economic Times.
AN EXCITING ROAD AHEAD
India offers a vast opportunity landscape for insurers, given the country’s low insurance penetration and growing awareness about insurance products and solutions. Further, we believe the pandemic-induced new normal will usher in a dramatic behavioural change, increasing the need for protection against the vagaries of life and living in an uncertain environment.
Given our leadership position and relentless customer focus, we are well positioned to absorb the emerging opportunities by leveraging our wide physical reach, complemented by our digital channels, and emerge as the pre-eminent provider of protection products and solutions. Developing new solutions through innovation and automation will always remain our priority in driving growth and wealth creation potential.
I thank our shareholders and investors for their ongoing trust and confidence. I am grateful to other stakeholders, including customers, distributors, employees, regulators and the government for their continued support. We attribute our growth to the sincerity, hard work and dedication of our distributors and employees, which will continue to help us scale newer heights. Our collaboration, distribution network, digital assets and responsibility as a corporate citizen is what makes SBI Life Insurance ‘Stronger Together’.
Best regards,
Mahesh Kumar Sharma
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer