Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Garners Rs 171 cr in March in Gross Written Premiums

Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company Limited ? a joint venture between two of India?s largest public sector banks, Canara Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce, and HSBC Insurance (Asia Pacific) Holdings Limited, has joined the big league of life insurance players by breaking through Rs 100 crore of new business in a month. The Company garnered Rs 171.1 crore in March, closing fiscal 2009-10 with Rs 861.3 crore in gross written premiums, recording a growth of 189% over FY 2008-09.

Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company?s business in terms of gross written premiums stood at Rs 1160 crore since launch in June 2008. The Company has underwritten 135,585 policies since inception.

Mr. Harpal Karlcut, Chief Executive Officer, Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company, said: ?It is indeed encouraging to see the Company on a strong growth trajectory in such a short span. Our achievement is the result of the commitment of our shareholders and employees in positioning the Company as a strong private life insurance player in a tumultuous yet competitive 2009.?

Operating a pure bancassurance model, Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company has exclusive access to the customer bases of both the public sector banks, Canara Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce, and of HSBC in India. This comprises more than 48 million customers and a pan-India network of over 4,400 branches. Currently, the Company?s products are available through around 900 branches of the three banks.

Mr Karlcut added, ?This further testifies the scale of untapped potential among the large customer base of Canara Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce and HSBC. We are confident that our strong distribution model, research-based products and customer centric initiatives will enable us to achieve our goal of taking life insurance to a large section of the society and help us evolve as one of the top insurance players in the market.?

The bancassurance model has enabled the Company in reaching out to customers from the rural and social sectors where the regulatory minimum required levels of sales have been exceeded for FY 2009-10.

Mr Karlcut added, ?The Company is strongly committed to deliver need-based, affordable insurance solutions to the rural population, the social sector and economically weaker sections of the society, especially those who have none or very little access to organized financial services.?

Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company?s assets under management stood at Rs 1170 crore as on 31st March 2010. In FY 2009-10, the Company through its prudent investment strategy demonstrated consistent fund performance, exceeding benchmarks across all funds.

In order to meet its expansion plans, the shareholders have plans for further capital infusion of Rs 300 crore in FY 2010-11. This will take the total capital base from Rs 625 crore to Rs 925 crore.