LOLC Life Assurance becomes SL’s first life insurance company to reach Rs. 3 b GWP in less than a decade

LOLC Life Assurance, a fully-owned subsidiary of the LOLC Group, recently became Sri Lanka’s first life insurance company to achieve Rs. 3 billion Gross Written Premium (GWP) in less than 10 years. The company reached this feat during the month of December 2020, making it the fastest growing life insurance company in Sri Lanka. LOLC Life Assurance CEO Nadika Opatha talks of the company’s secret to success and its plans for the future:

Q: Tell us about your company’s performance over the years and what led to these impressive numbers?

Although LOLC Life was established in 2011, distribution channels were setup in 2013. Ever since, we have been growing steadily. The company’s market share has been growing consistently, mainly as a result of aggressive market penetration and by introducing a wide range of flexible and customer-centric products that are designed and developed in line with the evolving customer trends. 

The company was able to unleash this growth mainly due to its significant increase in new business building. In 2020 alone, the company recorded a growth rate of 56% in new life business, which was a notable growth rate amidst many challenges faced by the industry during 2020.

Q: Rs. 3 billion GWP in less than a decade. What is your company’s secret to success? 

We were able to reach this milestone within a short span of time because we moved away from the traditional way of doing business, to a more modern, technologically-driven approach, which is in line with the needs of the customers and our partners. Our staff and their dynamism, commitment as well as their professionalism helped us increase our market presence and it is undeniably our key attribute. These exceptional traits along with the backing of the stalwart LOLC Group gives us a significant advantage over the rest. 

Furthermore, the unstinted support, guidance and the visionary leadership of the LOLC Life Assurance and LOLC Board of Directors, helped us to perform exceptionally. I must say that as a company, we have much more ground to cover and many more milestones to achieve as we expand both locally and internationally.

Q: Was there any adverse impact on the company as a result of COVID-19?

From an economic and social perspective, last year was probably the most difficult year in SL’s recent history. However, LOLC Life Assurance remained resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic as the company was already geared with the necessary technology and infrastructure in place to conduct business as usual. We sought innovation as a key catalyst in enhancing business growth with uninterrupted service to our customers, partners and field staff. This helped the company accelerate its sales and maintained operations. 

The staff was aptly equipped with the required resources to do so.  LOLC Life launched new products suitable to the times and needs much faster and reached the market more efficiently with the support of its dynamic team, even during the crisis. Having a very effective business continuity plan too helped us to ensure continued operations nationally.

Q: What holds for LOLC Life in 2021?

In 2021, the company hopes to continue its growth trajectory with a greater regional business expansion. Further, business will be supported by reinforcing our digital transformation initiatives, expanding the product portfolio and more emphasis on our service standards.

LOLC Life envisages to expand the nation-wide reach by establishing approximately 70 dedicated insurance branches, thus penetrating new regions. LOLC Life aims to reach closer to its potential customer base in a highly under-penetrated Life Insurance market, with only about 10% of the total eligible population having life insurance in Sri Lanka. 

Furthermore, during the 2021 financial year, LOLC Life looks forward to spreading its wings to strategically selected overseas markets. The company has already acquired the license to operate in Cambodia and the operations are scheduled to commence in 2021.