The insurance regulatory environment has stabilised “quite a bit” over the past two years and the sector is the better for it, according to Anoop Pabby, Managing Director and CEO, DHFL Pramerica Life Insurance.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has opened up this sector through the open-architecture route.

This allows a bank to tie up with three life insurance companies and three general insurance companies, Pabby said.

With respect to DHFL Pramerica’s bancassurance tie-up with Dhanlaxmi Bank, he said his company will ride on the back of its customised product to provide superior solutions to bank customers and become the majority partner in the insurance distribution business.

DHFL Pramerica has turned around since 2013, Pabby said. “It was the youngest life insurance company to become profitable, and we have now reached a stage where we can count ourselves among the big boys.”

Three years ago, the company used to languish way down the pecking order. But now, it is eighth in a field of 23 players. The bancassurance tie-up is a big growth driver and also an opportunity to service customers in the South, he said.

Asked if the tie-up hadn’t come too late in the day, Pabby said DHLF Pramerica is a young company having started off in 2009. The initial thrust was to open proprietary organic channels.

“As we grew in size, we made ourselves suitable for banker partners. Dhanlaxmi is our third partner after Lakshmi Vilas Bank and IndusInd Bank. It’s a natural progression in the evolution of our company’s growth.”

It was important that the company built the service platform, technology capabilities and customer service processes to be able to address bank customers — all of which are now in place.

Responding to another question, he said it is part of a strategy to court regional banks, giving the company the opportunity to understand the demographics better in order to sharpen the product proposition to various segments.

Asked if he perceived any threat from the agency business or the online segment, he said that over the past 10 years, the agency business contribution has continued to decline and the bank’s business has witnessed an increase.

From 95 per cent share in 2000, the agency contribution has come down to 33 per cent, while the banker business share has gone up to 55 per cent or so.

This endorses the fact that customers have come to trust the bank, the wealth manager or the teller more, when it comes to accessing a life insurance product, Pabby said.

“As for digital, we feel that as the bank starts digitising its business, it will offer the same bouquet of life insurance products through its portal, app or website. We’ll act as the manufacturing partner.”