In results published last week, Sanlam Life reported, that its profit after tax for 2019 grew from UGX881 million in 2018 to UGX3.31 Billion, on the back of a 133 percent growth in net assets from UGX10.2 billion in 2018 to UGX13.5 billion.
Sanlam also registered a 13.2 percent growth in gross underwritten premiums from UGX35.2 billion to UGX39.8 billion in the same period.
The insurance company, which came to the Ugandan market only 10 years ago, now enjoys a 15.2 percent market share in a closely competitive market where the top insurer controls 18.2 percent market share.
In an interview with CEO East Africa, Nicholas Lutakome, the Sanlam Life Ag. Chief Executive Officer, attributed the good performance to “loyalty of the customer base.”
“This is our 5th straight positive underwriting result in a very competitive life insurance market which is majorly loss-making due to the complex nature of the operating a life insurance company that requires heavy costs such as setting up reserves to pay policyholder’s future claims and bonuses that have left many life players with a thin bottom line,” he told CEO East Africa.
“Our policyholders in 2019 partook of UGX14.8 billion in claims, up by 44 percent, from UGX10.3 billion in 2018,” said Lutakome.
In a commentary to the published results, Mr. Enoch Rukidi the board chairman said that with the 5th straight positive performance and growing policyholder benefits, Sanlam Life had established her “relevance as a major life insurance player in Uganda.”
“Other than our loyal customer base, our steady and sustainable growth is attributed to the high-performance culture of our staff, which in addition to other factors has enabled us to remain a top performer in the life insurance market,” said Mr. Rukidi, adding: “As we commemorate our 10 years in Uganda, we remain focused on our vision of remaining the leading life insurance provider in Uganda with over 80,000 retail clients in Uganda.”
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Sanlam offers both retail products through plans such as Family Protection, Dreambuilder, as well as corporate products such as the Sancare Medical Plan among many other tailored plans.
The Sancare Medical Scheme is designed to enable employers provide their employees with quality medical care and comes with a variety of flexible and tailored in-patient and out-patient plans.
Dreambuilder, on the other hand, is a 2-in-1 unique and flexible savings plan that allows clients to save for their financial goals at the same time offers life protection along the policy’s lifetime. It also comes with other benefits such as inflation protection, a flexible life cover, and an accident cover for the policy owner.
The Family Protection Plan provides life cover to the policyholder, their spouse, children, parents, and extended family. Each family member is individually priced based on age and the sum assured selected. The plan has inbuilt benefits and hedges against any eventualities such as an automatic inflation protection facility; a cashback benefit every five years; a premium protector benefit in case of the death or permanent disability of the policy owner as well as a double accident cover among many other benefits.
CEO Profile: Nicholas Lutakome
Nicholas Lutakome whose insurance expertise spans over 12 years, across various disciplines, assumed leadership of Sanlam Life Uganda this March 2020. Before that, he was the Sanlam Group Head of Risk in Uganda from November 2014. He was the Corporate Relationship Manager from June 2011 to November 2014.
He graduated in 2007 from Makerere University with a BSc in Actuarial Science. He also has additional training from the North American Training Group in insurance fraud, motor casualty, and liability insurance claims as well as a certificate in Bancassurance from the Chartered Insurance Institute.
