Key Corporate Updates

  • The 26th Annual General Meeting was held via video conference on June 30, 2026, and all items were approved by shareholders.
  • The Board, at its meeting on July 6, 2026, approved a proposal to rename the Company to 'ICICI Life Insurance Limited', pending regulatory approval from IRDAI.
  • This name change follows the Board's approval of Prudential Corporation Holdings Limited's (PCHL) request to change its status from 'Promoter' to 'Investor'. PCHL holds approximately 22% stake, below the 24.99% threshold that would require promoter classification under IRDAI regulations.
  • The core business operations, strategy, and governance frameworks remain unchanged.

Regulatory Environment

  • IRDAI introduced regulations linking key management compensation with customer-centric outcomes.
  • IRDAI issued an exposure draft on intermediary disclosures aimed at enhancing transparency and policyholder protection.
  • The Company views these developments as positive steps for the sector's long-term sustainable growth.

Macroeconomic Context

  • Macro-economic conditions remained volatile in Q1-FY2027 due to geopolitical uncertainties, inflationary concerns, and financial market fluctuations.
  • Equity markets remained volatile; inflation remained a key focus area with weather-related risks (potential El Niño) requiring monitoring.
  • RBI maintained a balanced policy stance.
  • Strong structural fundamentals continued to support resilient demand for insurance products.

Q1-FY2027 Financial Performance

  • Value of New Business (VNB): Grew 24.9% year-on-year to ₹5.71 billion.
  • VNB Margin: Stood at 26.7%, an expansion of 200 basis points from the full-year FY2026 margin of 24.7%.
  • Profit After Tax (PAT): Increased 27.8% year-on-year to ₹3.86 billion.
  • Assets Under Management (AUM): Stood at ₹3.34 trillion as of June 30, 2026.
  • Solvency Ratio: Remained robust at 225.4% (significantly above the regulatory requirement of 150%).

Business Performance Metrics

  • Sum Assured: Grew 31.8% year-on-year to ₹4.90 trillion. Market share stood at 11.8%.
  • Total In-Force Sum Assured: Stood at ₹48.06 trillion as of June 30, 2026.
  • New Business Premium: Grew 21.3% year-on-year to ₹48.66 billion.
  • Annual Premium Equivalent (APE): Grew 14.6% year-on-year to ₹21.36 billion.
  • Retail Weighted Received Premium (RWRP): Grew 13.4% year-on-year to ₹15.38 billion.
  • Cost-to-Premium Ratio (Savings): Reduced by 50 basis points year-on-year to 13.6%.
  • Total Cost-to-Premium Ratio: Stood at 21.8% (vs. 21.2% in Q1-FY2026), primarily due to an increase in protection business and the unavailability of input tax credit.

Product-Wise Performance

  • Retail Protection APE: Grew 60.4% year-on-year, accounting for 10.5% of total APE (vs. 7.5% in Q1-FY2026). This marks the third consecutive quarter of retail protection growth exceeding 40%.
  • Group Protection APE: Grew 37.8% year-on-year. The MFI segment witnessed recovery, while the non-MFI segment maintained healthy momentum.
  • Savings Business Mix: Moderated to 72.1% of APE (vs. 78.1% in Q1-FY2026) due to a customer shift towards protection.
  • Savings APE: Grew 5.8% year-on-year to ₹15.40 billion.
  • Linked Business APE: Grew 6.4% year-on-year.
  • Non-Linked Savings APE: Remained broadly stable year-on-year at ₹4.94 billion. A shift was seen within this category towards participating products due to a competitive environment where alternative investments (like fixed deposits) offered higher sticker prices.
  • Group Funds APE: Grew 42.2% year-on-year.

Channel-Wise Performance

  • Agency Channel APE: Grew 2% year-on-year to ₹4.63 billion.
  • Direct Channel APE: Grew 8.3% year-on-year to ₹2.86 billion.
  • Together, Agency and Direct channels contributed 45.5% to Retail APE.
  • Bancassurance Channel APE: Grew 5.6% year-on-year, contributing 27.4% to total APE.
  • Partnership Distribution Channel APE: Grew 29.5% year-on-year, contributing 14.6% to total APE. This channel has delivered a near 20% CAGR over the last 5 years.
  • Group Business APE: Grew 38.8% year-on-year, contributing 22.9% to total APE.
  • Distribution strength includes over 2.44 lakh advisors, 52 bank partnerships (access to over 26,800 branches), and 1,500+ non-bank partnerships.

Operational Highlights & Risk Management

  • Claim Settlement Ratio: Remained strong at 99.3% in Q1-FY2027.
  • Average Turnaround Time for Claims: 1 day.
  • Early Claim Ratio: Stood at 22% (best-in-class in the industry).
  • Claims Settled: ₹13.06 billion in death claims; ₹33.60 billion paid in maturity & survival benefits during the quarter. In FY2026, the Company settled ₹51.49 billion in death claims and paid ₹153.63 billion in maturity & survival benefits.
  • 13th Month Persistency: Remained healthy at 84.0% (vs. 84.5% in March 2026).
  • Investment Portfolio: Maintained a track record of zero non-performing assets since inception.

Strategy and Outlook

  • The Company's focus remains on driving sustainable VNB growth, balancing business growth, profitability, and risk prudence.
  • Absolute VNB growth is the primary focus, not margin fixation.
  • The protection segment is viewed as a significant multi-decadal growth opportunity (only ~13% of the addressable population is currently covered).
  • Continued focus on cost optimization, leveraging technology, digital initiatives, and AI/ML across the customer journey for targeted demand generation, automated underwriting, improved retention, and enhanced service.
  • The Company aims to be the "most partnerable life insurance company" and will continue deepening existing relationships and adding new distribution partnerships.

Q&A Session Highlights

  • VNB Margins: The 26.7% margin was driven by a favorable product mix (shift towards protection) and operational efficiencies, despite a drag from the unavailability of input tax credit (expected to continue for one more quarter).
  • Non-Par Savings: Growth was subdued due to a highly competitive environment where fixed deposits offered more attractive sticker prices to customers. The Company continues to reprice products for specific cohorts but does not anticipate industry-wide en-masse price changes.
  • Standard Chartered Partnership: The 10-year partnership is valued by both parties and is deeply integrated across technology, products, and processes. The Company is confident the relationship will continue despite Prudential's promoter status change.
  • Expense Management: Cost initiatives and tech/AI/ML investments are helping improve efficiency and mitigate the impact of higher expenses from the unavailability of input tax credit. The Company is well within regulatory Expense of Management (EOM) caps.
  • AUM Outflows: Attributed to scheduled maturities of older policies (10-15 year marks) and the end of the 5-year lock-in period for Unit Linked policies with zero surrender charges, which is a known phenomenon and factored into VNB assumptions.
  • Agency Channel: The 2% growth represents a positive turnaround from previous negative quarters. The focus is on a micro-market strategy and technology to enhance productivity. The product mix within the channel is shifting towards higher-value protection business.

Forward-Looking Statements

The transcript includes safe harbour statements noting that forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the ability to implement strategy, business expansion, technological changes, market risks, regulatory policies, competition, mortality/morbidity trends, and changes in capital or accounting standards.