The joint venture insurance company between Bank of India, Union Bank of India and Japanese Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Company was registered with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) on December 26, 2008. They are all set to commence operations this month.
The latest entrant into life insurance sector – Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company – is planning to focus on bancassurances to secure a pan-India presence in the country.
The insurance company is planning to utilize 5,600 branches of both banks to sell its products initially and would consider other business models like agency model only after the completion of the first year.
With a capital base of Rs 250 crore, it is planning to commence the operations by the second week of January and is currently awaiting IRDA’s approval for launching its products. About 20 regional offices will be set up in the first year of operations.
Its product portfolio includes a mixture of traditional and unit-linked products and has submitted four conventional, ULIP products and four group insurance products to IRDA for approval.
It aims at attaining Rs 300 crore as freah business premiums by the end of March 2010 with 90% contribution expected from ULIP sales and remaining from traditional products.