FirstIndia off to a flying start in first 500 days

Newcomer to India’s life
market IndiaFirst Life Insurance has got off to a flying start,
recording INR9bn ($204m) in its first 500 days of
operation.

According to IndiaFirst,
which began operating in November 2009, this is the fastest a
start-up Indian life company has crossed the INR9bn new business
mark.

During the 500 days,
FirstIndia sold policies covering 1.2m lives.

The insurer comes with strong
distribution backing from its two largest shareholders, Bank of
Baroda and Andhra Bank, which provide it with access to 4,800
branches in 1,000 cities and towns and more than 50m
customers.

Baroda has a 44% stake in
IndiaFirst, Andhra Bank a 30% stake, and UK insurer Legal &
General a 26% stake.

Unsurprisingly, with its strong bank ties, some 95% of
IndiaFirst’s business is being derived through the bancassurance
channel.

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