Detailed Narrative
Premium Growth and Market Position
SBI Life maintained private market leadership with 21.3% NBP share. Individual NBP grew 13% to Rs 114.9 billion with private market share of 25.7%. Individual rated premium grew 15% to Rs 81 billion. The 2-year CAGR of IRP stands at 16% vs industry 14%. However, gross written premium grew only 7% with group business contributing 27% amid headwinds in group savings from unsustainable competitor pricing.
Agency 2.0 and Distribution Transformation
Agency channel delivered exceptional 36% growth on individual APE basis to Rs 27.9 billion, raising IRP share from 29% to 33%. Agent count grew 11% to 264,058 with 50,000+ net additions in H1. Agent productivity up 21% to Rs 2.6 lakhs. SBI banca grew 7% on individual APE basis with branch productivity up 8%. Digital protection product on YONO sold 33,000+ policies in September alone. 99% of proposals submitted digitally.
Product Mix and Margin Dynamics
ULIP individual NBP grew 19% to Rs 70.4 billion constituting 61% of individual NBP. Non-par savings contributed 19% on individual APE basis. VoNB margin at 26.8% impacted by higher ULIP share and delayed Q1 non-par repricing. Q2 non-par product margins improved after repricing in August. New protection riders launched with encouraging attachment rates. Management targets maintaining product mix at 60-40 ULIP-to-traditional.
Operational Metrics and Embedded Value
Embedded value grew 29% to Rs 660.7 billion with operating ROEV at 19.5%. Operating variance positive across all components (mortality, persistency, expenses). 13th month persistency improved 98bps to 86.4% and 61st month improved 438bps to 61.9%. Opex ratio at 5.8% and total cost ratio at 10.6%. Death claim settlement ratio at 99.2% improved 68bps. Mis-selling ratio at 0.03% remains industry-lowest.