Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem,
Dear Esteemed Shareholders
Assalamu Alaikum Wa-Rahmatullah
I have the pleasure to present the annual report for the year 2022 of your company. As you know, the world is passing through a pandemic which is in itself once in a century event. The COVID-19 Terrific pandemic has not only put challenges before the businesses in general but also create opportunities for them. Insurance industry is not different in that regard. OECD in a 2022 report on insurance indus- try outlook fears the negative impact of COVID-19 on the premium income and investment income growth of insurers. Nevertheless the pandemic creates opportunities in terms of attracting new customers, adopting new technologies and explor- ing new investments for the sector. COVID-19 prompts potential customers to get into the market and purchase claims to insure their personal health and wealth.
Bangladesh insurance industry has gone through similar ups and downs in recent years. Particularly, the outbreak of COVID-19 hit hard the sector. While the premium of 35 life insurance and 46 non-life insurance companies rose above 8.45% in 2021, the experts had estimated few percentage of loss in premium in 2022. In the life insurance industry, this has led to fierce competition among the firms and put upward pressure on commissions offered to the distributors. Despite this set back, the growing awareness of mortality and morbidity risk creates business opportunities for life insurance companies including us.
The Annual Report of 2022 has detailed out the activities performed, performance achieved and financial positions of your valued Company. Despite the global pandemic, I presume the performance of the business operation during the year under review was satisfactory. I don’t think our shareholders need to be anxious about the prospect and growth of their investments during this tough time. I assure you that we shall always be with you and your Invest- ment will always be secured.
As you all know, the greatest strength of our business lies in three operating segments: Individu- al Life, the Group Life and Health insurance. During 2022, this three segments achieved a record growth in premium, which is 44.75% more than previous To keep the future business momentum and to reap the benefits of fourth industrial revolution, insur- ance firms like us have to invest more in sophisticat- ed technologies, software, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system etc. The technological disruption eases the business operation. It also enhances the outreach of the firm to the most marginalized segment in the society. We are very keen and aware of the situation. We, therefore, are committed to install ERP systems throughout the organization and employ disruptive technologies in the company. The existing information technology infrastructure will be modified to combat the challenges of future.
At last, I would like to express my gratitude to all our valued Shareholders, Policyholders and well-wishers of the company who extended their cooperation, year. Claim payment to policyholders in the year 2022 was Tk. 234,782,563 as against Tk. 153,791,956 of 2021. This again shows an increase of claim payment by 52.63%. Claims were mainly increased due to death, disability, medical (health), hospitalization and survival benefit payments. The Life Fund shows a growth of 29.65%. While in 2022, the life fund was Tk. 456,589,851, it was Tk. 352,168,720 in 2021. The life fund entails all invest- ments made by the company. The investments typically include buying Government Securities, Bangladesh Government Treasury Bond [BGTB], Fixed Deposit Receipt [FDR] and purchases of listed equity shares.
In a competitive market life insurance, productivity enhancement would increase the profitability of any firm. With this moto, the company continued its aggressive cost management strategies throughout the year. Total expenses were Tk.351,991,860 in 2022 whereas Tk.237,502,861 in 2021. The overall management expenses were increased by 48.20% in 2022 while business was increased by 44.75% same time. he performance exhibits the company’s appeal to the customers. Simultaneously, the company has shown continued efforts to diversify their business portfolios and increase the base of medium and smaller clienteles. This would enable us to achieve a desirable spread of business which is fundamental to the business of Life Insurance. This is an on-going process and the company will strive to develop a well-balanced business portfolio which is not overly dependent on any particular type of business or client.
To achieve the desired productivity and attain the vision of the company, we recruit and nurture talent- ed professionals. In case of appointment, educa- tional qualification, professional qualification and experience are being adjudged. The development of proper human resources is one of the priorities of the company. This is not only important to maintain our ability to provide the best quality services, but also essential to get an edge over our competitors. For adopting these epoch-making steps, the activi- ties of Chartered Life Insurance Company have considerably been boosted up and leading towards the achievement of its desired goal.