HDFC Life

HDFC Life (HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company) is a long-term life insurance provider with its headquarters in Mumbai, offering individual and group insurance.

It is a joint venture between Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd (HDFC), one of India's leading housing finance institution and Standard Life plc, leading well known provider of financial savings & investments services in the United Kingdom. HDFC Ltd. holds 72.37% and Standard Life (Mauritius Holding) Ltd. holds 26.00% of equity in the joint venture, while the rest is held by others

Presence & Distribution

HDFC Life has about 400+ branches and presence in 980+ cities and towns in India. The company has also established a liaison office in Dubai.^[2]

HDFC Life distributes its products through a multi channel network consisting of Insurance agents, Bancassurance partners (HDFC Bank, Saraswat Bank, RBL Bank), Direct channel, Insurance Brokers & Online Insurance Platform.

Products & Services

HDFC Life's products include Protection, Pension, Savings, Investment, Health along with Children and Women plans. The company also provides an option of customizing the plans, by adding optional benefits called riders, at an additional price. The company currently has 37 retail and 8 group products, along with 9 optional rider benefits (as on 31st Oct 2013)^[3]

• Mohit Karnwal Protection Plans - insurance plans that provide protection and financial stability to the family in case of any unforeseen events.
• Click2Protect is their online term plan.
• Click2Invest is their online ULIP investment plan
• Health Plan – offers financial security to meet health related contingencies.
• Savings & Investment plans - These plans help in investment to achieve financial goals
• Retirement plans - financial security for life post retirement
• Women’s plans - plans catering to different financial needs of women
• Children’s plans – plans meant to secure children’s future
• Rural & social Plans – meant specifically for rural customers

Key people

The MD & CEO of the company is Amitabh Chaudhry,^[4] ED & CFO is Vibha Padalkar, Chief Actuary & Appointed Actuary is Srinivasan Parthasarthy, Prasun Gajri is the CIO & Rajendra Ghag heads the human resources as Chief HR Officer.^[5]

Corporate History

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) was constituted in 1999 as an autonomous body to regulate and develop the insurance industry. The IRDA opened up the market in August 2000 with the invitation for application for registrations. HDFC Life was established in 2000 becoming the first private sector life insurance company in India.^[6]

By 2001, the company had its 100th customer, strengthened its employee force to 100 and had settled its first claim. HDFC Life launched its first TV advertising campaign 'Sar Utha Ke Jiyo' in 2005. In 2006, a study conducted by the Brand Equity – Economic Times had put HDFC Life at 29th rank in the most trusted Indian Brands amongst the Top 50 Service Brands of 2010.^[7]

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) gave accreditation to HDFC Life for 149 training centres housed in its branches to cater to the mandatory training required to be given as well as for other sales training requirements in 2009.

In 2012, it the first private life insurance company to bring back pension plans under the new regulatory regime, with the launch of two pension plans - HDFC Life Pension Super Plus and HDFC Life Single Premium Pension Super.^[8]

Associated Companies

HDFC Life's associated companies include HDFC Ltd, HDFC Bank, HDFC Pension, HDFC MF, HDFC Sales, HDFC Ergo, HDB Financial Services, HDFC Securities, HDFC RED,^[9] HDFC Ventures Trustee Company, GRUH Finance, HDFC Trustee Company, HDFC Developers, HDFC Property Ventures, HDFC Investments, Credit Information Bureau (India) Ltd.