Mr. Sumit comes with over 20 years of professional experience in Heading Business Units, Profit and Loss Management, Relationship Management, Sales Leadership, Business Development, Channel Management, Annual Planning, Data and Information Analytics, Operational Excellence, Turnaround Management, Training Interventions, leading and mentoring large cross-functional teams with an aim to enhance organizational value and growth.

Q.   Insurance companies are into stress when you think will this end?

The pandemic has, undoubtedly, adversely impacted business activity across sectors including life insurance. This has been due to a combination of reasons including a fall in disposable income across households, and overreliance of insurers on traditional sources of distribution that typically require face to face interactions. This has unfavourably affected the industry. However, some life insurers, that have reoriented their customer interactions through a comprehensive digital advisory have stayed resilient in face of these challenges. While the last quarter has been sluggish for the industry, I have a positive outlook for the medium term. This pandemic has led to an increased awareness regarding the benefits of life insurance and the resulting demand will revive the sector, in the medium to long-term.

Q.   There is a lot of redemption pressure on life insurance companies, what is the status of your company?

In the first quarter, we have received significantly lesser requests for surrender redemptions compared to the preceding quarter. We see this as a crucial data point that indicates the quality of our business. Since the lockdown began, we have realized that we have a greater responsibility to assume for our customers and help them make sense of this pandemic by offering them the right counsel and solutions. Early on in April, we had set up doctor helpline for our customers so that they have access to authentic information regarding the disease, and our salesforce has gone out of its way to stay virtually connected to our customers. Our operations have also stayed unaffected and we have honoured customer requests from our homes without any delays. In fact, we have achieved the highest TNPS of 56 in July, which is an encouraging statistic and a validation of our efforts to stay true to our customer.

Q.   What is your projection for the financial year 2020-21 for your company?

We have had a positive first quarter with a 21% year on year growth in Individual APE. The fact that we have achieved positive momentum during a challenging environment like this, is extremely motivating. It is a bit premature to determine targets as we are still in the middle of an evolving situation. There will be several considerations to be made, before we can realign ourselves to the new world, post-COVID.

Q.   At what percentage do you think the Life insurance industry will grow in the financial year 2020-21 and why?

It might be too early to determine how the industry will perform for the year as several factors are still changing as we speak. However, I do believe that demand for life insurance will improve in the immediate to medium term. People are realising the need to buy financial instruments that offer protection for their loved ones in the long-term. People can no longer assume that income will continue uninterrupted for years to come. So, they are looking at comprehensive income planning, to create a back-up for their primary livelihood. Long-term goals like retirement, have also found importance as people now understand the need to provide for their non-working years. But human memory is short, and we are all itching to get back to life as usual. So, it will be interesting to see how insurance demand and perception shape up, in the future after the situation has normalised.

Q.   Which are the new products you are launching in the next 3 to 6 month?

We have launched a new income product called Active Income Plan a couple days ago. It has become the fastest selling product in the history of our company, indicating a clear demand for this product category in the current period. We believe in relevant innovation and with the Active Income Plan, we have tried to create a one-stop solution for all ages and life stages. Be it for children or retired individuals, this plan can provide a comprehensive income solution, with the added benefit of a life cover. We are keen on becoming comprehensive income solution providers and are looking to add more such products to our kitty, in the near future.

Q.   Which product do you think will do well in the next 2 years?

The pandemic has led to a significant shift in how customers perceive the insurance category. With risk to future cashflows and health uncertainties in focus, insurance has become far more important. Discretionary spending may have slowed but customers are now looking at insurance as an avenue for long-term wealth creation. 

The whole aspect of protection has become important – be it term insurance, health insurance or providing for loss of income due to job loss or retirement. So, we have seen a spurt in demand across categories – term, guaranteed and income solutions, along with optional riders like Critical Illness, Hospital Cash Benefit and Waiver of Premium. It will be interesting to study how this demand shapes up post the pandemic. However, I expect a reasonable improvement in demand post Covid, and our insurance penetration might be closer to the global levels over the next 3-5 years.

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