Birla Sun Life targets 90,000 policies in 2002

Mumbai: Birla Sun Life Insurance has targeted a sale of around 90,000 policies in 2002 with corresponding annualised premium of more than Rs 215 crore. The company, which started operations on 19 March 2001, has earned a premium income of Rs 36 crore and sold nearly 20,000 policies, covering more than 33,000 lives across individual and group life businesses.

Birla Sun Life is currently capitalised at a level of Rs 150 crore and has completed new businesses with a total sum assured of Rs 1,600 crore. The average premium per policy stood at more than Rs 15,000 per policy and an average sum assured was around Rs 4,00,000 per policy.

Birla Sun Life CEO Nani Jhaveri says the companys main focus will be on investment-linked insurance products and in maximising investment returns for the policyholders. Eighty-eight per cent of its premium income has been achieved from the sales of unit-linked products.

The company has achieved its rural and social sector obligations of 7 per cent of the individual life policies and 7,650 lives, respectively. It has also tied up for bancassurance with Deutsche Bank and Citibank and is talking to several other nationalised and old private sector banks for similar arrangements.