KARACHI - The life insurance sector has grown at a reasonable pace in the past few years, whereas the situation for the non-life sector is not the same, and they have found it very difficult to grow rapidly due to the economic circumstances.
This was stated by Javed Ahmed, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Jubilee Life Insurance Company while talking with the Nation in an interview.
Life companies have worked very hard in developing their retail channels and as a result, retail business has grown significantly in the last few years.
Nevertheless, the life insurance penetration stands at 0.4pc of GDP in Pakistan, which is very low as compared to countries like India and Indonesia. However, this gives a huge opportunity for all the players to accelerate their endeavours in providing financial protection to the Pakistani population.
Over the recent years, Jubilee Life has been growing at over 40pc in terms of premium income every year. Our focus has been on an aggressive sales strategy with ethical business practices. This has helped us winning customer confidence and loyalty which is evident from our customer retention ratios.
In the private sector, Jubilee Life’s is the largest insurance company with a market share of over 45pc which is 20pc higher than the closest competitor. However, State Life is the largest player overall with a 60pc market share. The essence of our brand is “Live Free” and we do not limit our brand to any particular segment. Our product and distribution philosophy also reflects this. We realise that people belonging to various lifestyles and backgrounds have varying needs, preferences and affordability. From affluent class to the middle-income to the less-privileged segments, our product range offers specific solutions designed to cater to the particular needs of each segment.
Bancassurance has been an excellent stimulus to the insurance industry making products and services easily accessible to an extended customer base and has contributed to the industry’s growth. It is not only our largest distribution channel but in fact we are leading the industry with over 50pc share of new premiums written through Bancassurance.
We began Micro-insurance in 2003 and extended our products offering by commencing micro health insurance in in 2008. At present, we have around 1.2 million lives insured, including micro life and health.
Our initiatives hinge on our vision of “enabling people to overcome uncertainty”. May it be value of customers’ money in terms of financial security and investment returns, or superior customer services, we endeavour to be the best choice for the customers for overcoming their uncertainties.
Being the private sector market leader, we have an unwavering focus on innovating and improving our services to deliver the best overall experience to our customers. We have been continuously growing at pace higher than the industry’s average growth and for us sky is the limit!