SBI Life Insurance’s Annual Premium Equivalent (APE) grew 13 per cent year-on-year for the last financial year, while it posted a growth of 6 per cent for the fourth quarter. Why was the growth low during the Q4FY26?

If you look at the last financial year, the first five months were a little slow. And then the government came up with the GST exemption, which improved the affordability of insurance products. Following that the industry posted very good results and the third quarter results was excellent. In the fourth quarter also, the sales were going on satisfactorily, but then there was some effect of the geopolitical events, so many disturbances all around. That affected the entire financial markets and insurance also in the month of March. Although the fourth quarter was a little shaky, for the first 20 days of April, we saw a better growth rate.

Amid volatility in equity markets in the fourth quarter last fiscal, what kind of demands for Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIPs) did you witness?

As a company, we were heavily dependent on ULIP. For the last two years, we have been strengthening our product portfolio on the non-ULIP side. We have launched many products in the protection segment. We have launched products in the non-par guaranteed return products and also participating product. So the focus of the company was on these non-ULIP products and that as a strategy has also worked in favor of the company. There is a growth in the ULIP portfolio. We are not saying that we are not selling ULIP. The ULIP growth during last year (FY26) was 6 per cent, but the other lines of businesses witnessed greater growth than that of the ULIP product. We are trying to bring down the ULIP contribution in the overall product mix and we are happy that the strategy of the company is working.

What kind of Annualised Premium Equivalent (APE) growth are you expecting for this fiscal? What will be the growth drivers?

We are projecting at around 13-14 per cent IRP (Individual Rated Premium) growth, and APE growth will also be in the similar range. Total APE growth is also inclusive of the group business, which sometimes tends to be lumpy. So our main focus remains on the IRP growth, which we are projecting at 13-14 per cent , but conditions being favorable, we also expect the APE growth to be in the same range.

For SBI Life’s distribution mix, its bancassurance channel is contributing around 64 per cent of total sales, whereas the agency channel is providing around 30 per cent. Where do you see this mix going forward?

While we continue to exploit all the opportunities that are available on the bancassurance side, we also see opportunities that are available in the market to strengthen our agency channel as well. And, we are happy that our strategies are working out and we are able to mobilize a good amount of business from the agency channel also. We have the largest agency force in the private life insurance industry segment. We plan to add another 40,000-50,000 agents in the current year. It is not only about the recruitment, we also focus on providing the right kind of training to our agents so that they are able to understand the customer’s needs and provide the right kind of financial solution to the customers. We also expect to see good growth numbers on the digital channel front.

Will the company need to raise any fresh capital?

SBI Life for the last several years has been generating enough of cash accrual through profits and ploughing it back into the business. As of the end of financial year FY26, we have a solvency ratio of 190 per cent, which is well above the regulatory requirement of 150 percent. As of now, we do not have any plans to raise any fresh capital. But we will keep a very sharp eye on how the business is growing, and with the introduction of IFRS-based reporting and the Risk-Based Capital framework, how things are getting projected. We will respond accordingly.