In the second year, the company achieved sales corresponding to an annualised premium of Rs 170 crore, which is a growth of 385 per cent over the previous year's annualised premium of Rs 36 crore.

Says BSLI CEO Nani Javeri: "It is most satisfying to report that Birla Sun Life Insurance is placed among the top three life insurance companies, including LIC, based on annualised premium and is well on track to achieve its strategic target of a new business market share of 3 per cent. This is commendable considering the increased competition prevalent in the market."

Individual life
During the year the company sold 65,000 individual life policies, which is a four-fold increase over the previous year, with the annualised premium totalling to Rs 126 crore. It is important to note that sales of Single Premium Bond (SPB) contributed to less than 1 per cent of the total sales.

Group life
In the group life business the company covered 80,000 lives with total funds mobilised of Rs 43.4 crore (including committed funds amounting to Rs 20 crore), clearly establishing the No 1 position among the private players with a market share of more than 50 per cent.

Rural and social sector
The company successfully met its rural and social sector targets. It sold 10,500 policies in the rural sector and covered 12,000 lives in the social sector, which is well above Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) requirements. The company looks at this segment as an opportunity and not just an obligation.

BSLI unit-linked plans
Given the increased awareness of life insurance plans with investment options and the tremendous response evoked by its pioneering effort of offering unit-linked plans, BSLI will continue its focus on maximising investment returns to the policyholder. Ninety-five per cent of its annualised premium was achieved through the sale of unit-linked plans.

Investment performance
BSLI's unit-linked plans offer three investment options to the policyholders to choose from, based on their risk appetite. The annualised investment returns (net of fees and charges) for the three investment options have been attractive. They are:

• 7.61 per cent for the protector option (low risk); 8.77 per cent for the builder option (medium risk); 11.56 per cent for the enhancer option (high risk);
  
• The corresponding annualised investment returns for the four investment options for the group fund products (again net of fees and charges) since their inception have been:
  
• 9.70 per cent in the fixed interest; 10.73 per cent for the group safe option (low risk); 19.04 per cent for the group stable option (medium risk); 11.81 per cent for the group growth option (high risk).

Distribution channels
Currently, BSLI has more than 350 agency managers and 5,000 insurance advisors who sell company products across India. This channel contributes 50 per cent of the company's annualised premium. The company has established a strong presence in India with 20 branches and two development centres across 16 cities.

In addition there are agency managers in 25 outstation locations, taking the national footprint to 41 locations. During the year, 39 of the insurance advisors qualified for the membership of the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), with one advisor qualifying for Top of the Table (TOT) and two of them qualifying for the Court of the Table (COT).

Alternate Channels
Today, alternate channels contributes 24 per cent of BSLI's annualised premium and with a team of over 84 relationship staff across India managing 57 relationships, the company is the market leader for this type of distribution channel.

Some well-known banks like Citibank, Deutsche Bank, Catholic Syrian Bank, Development Credit Bank, Bank of Rajasthan and Bank Muscat have tied up with BSLI. The bancassurance model is set to deliver the best performance in the industry in the years ahead. The affinity group and direct marketing business of BSLI have entered into relationships with NIIT, Andhra Bank, and Citibank Home Loans, among others.

The group channel has contributed 26 per cent of the company's annualised premium in the current financial year. This was achieved through a product mix of group superannuation, group gratuity and group term plan. In the fund-based products BSLI has achieved leadership position among private life insurers.

Way forward
The company has plans to sell 1,80,000 policies in the current year, with a corresponding annualised premium of Rs 450 crore, signifying a growth of more than 165 per cent. BSLI plans to set up 11 branches in 11 cities in the year 2003-04.