Message from the MD and CEO
Dear stakeholders,
It gives me immense pleasure to report to you that SBI Life continues to deliver robust performance across all key financial and non-financial parameters. With India projected to become the fifth-largest life insurance market by 2032, we remain favourably positioned to capitalise on the immense growth opportunity ahead. As one of India’s leading private life insurers, we are committed to delivering need-based solutions that address the ever-evolving consumer needs while contributing towards realising the nation’s ambition of ‘Insurance for all’ by 2047.
Today, insurance features as a key element for consumers to hedge life’s uncertainties. Their choice of financial as well as insurance products is guided by their specific interests and needs. As SBI Life's Financial Immunity Survey 2.0 suggests, more than 75% of Indians believe insurance plays an essential role in overall financial planning and over 50% believe that 'Financial Immunity' is necessary to secure the financial future. Based on these needs and demands from the customers and further enhancing the product suite for various life cycle needs the Company has launched several products namely, SBI Life-Smart Annuity Plus with deferred annuity option, SBI Life- Retire Smart Plus with choice of 7 varied fund options, SBI Life-Smart Lifetime Saver guaranteed returns and protection for a lifetime, and SBI Life-Group Micro Shield Insurance, leading to financial inclusion.
During FY23, we brought 20+ million new lives under our insurance safety net. Our Gross Written Premium (GWP) came in at ₹673.16 billion, driven by a 17% y-o-y growth in First Year Premium (FYP) and a 15% y-o-y increase in Single Premium (SP). Our New Business Premium (NBP) grew 16% y-o-y to ₹295.89 billion, while Individual NBP rose 27% y-o-y to ₹209.06 billion. New Business Margin expanded 420 bps to 30.1%. VoNB increased by 37% y-o-y to ₹50.67 billion. Our AUM continued to record strong growth, crossing the ₹3 trillion milestone during the year under review.
The strong premium growth, coupled with our continued focus on improving the quality of business, best-in-class cost ratio, and improved persistency, led to yet another impressive operating year. Our 13th-month Persistency of Regular premium/Limited Premium Payment under the Individual category stands at 85.5%, which speaks volumes about the quality of business and customer retention. We maintained our cost efficiency at 9.6%. Our solvency ratio remains strong at 2.15, above the regulatory minimum of 1.5. Profit after tax (PAT) came in at ₹17.21 billion, up 14% y-o-y.
At SBI Life, we have always focused on leveraging the power of digital technologies to improve efficiency and augment customer experiences. Our digital servicing platforms enable us to deliver a convenient, faster, hassle-free experience. We have implemented and integrated digital technologies in various processes from customer onboarding to servicing to claims processing. During FY23, we introduced AI-based voice BOTs to remind customers about their renewal premium payment while enabling customers to seek further assistance, if needed. More than 380 tasks have been automated with over 101 BOTs, and we will continue to do so in the coming years.
Further, the platforms enable us to gather actionable insights, which we deploy to bring new and innovative products that address consumers’ requirements. As part of our initiative to further strengthen our trust-based relationship with the customers, we send personalised product videos detailing its features, engage with them regularly over calls, and run awareness campaigns on emails, messages and social media platforms. We use the Net Promoter Score (NPS) to gauge customer satisfaction. Improving the overall response rates and effective looping of the feedbacks to address the process gaps was one of our key focus areas in FY23.
Expanding our digital footprints, we are delivering exceptional support in the growth of our distribution network, fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce, making a positive impact in communities, inspiring investor confidence and championing environmental sustainability, which together will forge a path of sustainable value and meaningful impact.
Surpassing
As we develop and grow, it is of paramount importance to take care of the surrounding in which we operate. Being a responsible corporate citizen, we have taken the responsibility to safeguard our environment and its resources in every possible way. We have always believed and stressed all our efforts towards holistic and inclusive growth, which creates opportunities for all while protecting our planet, people and society. Taking this a step forward towards our sustainability goal, we have successfully embarked on our journey towards ESG compliance by embedding ethics and sustainability in our core values along with identifying, mitigating and managing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) risks and material issues.
SBI Life’s ‘Customer First’ approach focuses on providing quality service to our customers by following high ethical standards of service. This was, once again, recognised by several leading performance excellence awards and forums during the year under review, including the ‘Quality Award in Service Industry – Indian Merchant Chamber’s Ramkrishna Bajaj National Quality Award 2022’ and the ‘Most Trusted Private Life Insurer – 2nd edition of Navabharat BFSI Conclave and Awards 2022. In addition, five of our processes were recognised as best practices in the IMC MQH Best Practices competition 2022.
The Indian insurance industry, especially life insurance, is undergoing transformative changes, with product innovation, multi-distribution, improvements in claims management, and technological advancements. SBI Life is well-positioned to capitalise on the opportunities in this dynamic landscape amid an encouraging regulatory environment. We will further strengthen our distribution ecosystem to bring more and more consumers across India under the universal insurance coverage, design products purely based on customer needs, augment our digital capabilities and improve our efficiencies. We remain committed to working towards realising greater shared outcomes and empowering our customers to fulfil their dreams and aspirations and that of their loved ones.
In conclusion, I would like to thank all our shareholders and investors for believing in our abilities and continuously supporting us in achieving our goals. I also thank our customers, distribution partners, regulators and government for their constant support. I express my sincerest appreciation to our people for their commitment, dedication and hard work in unlocking SBI Life’s true potential and driving its values with Integrity and humility for creating a transparent, innovative and sustainable environment.
Best wishes,
Mahesh Kumar Sharma
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
