Shriram General Insurance expects a 30 per cent growth in gross written premium in 2023-24 as the company expands both its distribution network and headcount.
The general insurance company’s gross written premium in 2022-23 was Rs 2,266 crore, posting a 29 per cent year-on-year growth. More than 90 per cent of the insurer’s business comes from the motor segment.
However, the non-motor segment comprising fire, engineering, liability, marine and dwelling had grown at a faster rate of 48 per cent.
“In 2023-24, we are expecting to grow at 30 per cent. We added 32 branches last year to take the total number of branches to 235 and 500 people to take the headcount to 3,700. In the ongoing fiscal, we expect to add 750 more employees and have 20 per cent more branches,” said Anil Kumar Aggarwal, managing director and CEO of Shriram General Insurance.
“We have always focussed on profitability over market share. While we strengthen our motor portfolio, the non-motor side of the business is expected to grow faster at 70 per cent in 2023-24,” said Aggarwal.
Over a three-year period, Shriram General wants to bring down its motor portfolio to 85 per cent of its total business from 95 per cent now, as it expects non-motor lines to grow significantly faster.
In April 2022, global investment firm KKR acquired a 9.99 per cent stake in Shriram General Insurance.
“Our solvency margin is at 4.63 which is above the requirement of 1.5. So, we are well capitalised at the moment to support our growth. Our promoters invested Rs 259 crore as capital and we have already repaid more than Rs 2,143 crore as dividend and yet maintaining 4.63 as solvency — among the highest in the industry,” Aggarwal said.
The company has seen an almost four-fold growth in underwriting electric vehicle policies with the gross written premium at Rs 80 crore in 2022-23 against Rs 21 crore in 2020-21.
However, like most insurers, Shriram General Insurance too is cautious about underwriting policies, particularly in the two-wheeler segment where registration of vehicles in not required.
