MFSLNSEq1fy26August 14, 2025

Max Financial Services Limited

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Key numbers — 40 extracted
rs,
um into quarter 1 of FY'26 also delivering healthy growth while balancing the needs of our customers, partners, shareholders, and employees. Let me first begin by sharing a great news that we at Axis
23%
Sustainable and Predictable Growth: In Q1FY26, our individual adjusted first-year premium grew by 23%, which is nearly 3x of the private sector growth of 8% and more than 4x of the overall industry g
3x
ctable Growth: In Q1FY26, our individual adjusted first-year premium grew by 23%, which is nearly 3x of the private sector growth of 8% and more than 4x of the overall industry growth of 5%. Additio
8%
idual adjusted first-year premium grew by 23%, which is nearly 3x of the private sector growth of 8% and more than 4x of the overall industry growth of 5%. Additionally, on a
4x
rst-year premium grew by 23%, which is nearly 3x of the private sector growth of 8% and more than 4x of the overall industry growth of 5%. Additionally, on a 2-year CAGR ba
5%
s nearly 3x of the private sector growth of 8% and more than 4x of the overall industry growth of 5%. Additionally, on a 2-year CAGR basis, we delivered a robust 25% growth
25%
owth of 5%. Additionally, on a 2-year CAGR basis, we delivered a robust 25% growth, significantly ahead of the 16% CAGR for the private sector and more than twice the indust
16%
2-year CAGR basis, we delivered a robust 25% growth, significantly ahead of the 16% CAGR for the private sector and more than twice the industry growth rate of 12%. In terms of AP
12%
ntly ahead of the 16% CAGR for the private sector and more than twice the industry growth rate of 12%. In terms of APE, which is annualized premium equivalent, we grew at 15% in Q1FY26, driven by b
15%
industry growth rate of 12%. In terms of APE, which is annualized premium equivalent, we grew at 15% in Q1FY26, driven by both Prop as well as Banca channels. Our Prop channels have consistently ser
32%
growth over an extended period. On a 3-year basis, these channels have demonstrated APE growth of 32%, with the online channel putting a 3-year CAGR of 63% and offline channels at 24%. Continuing thi
63%
se channels have demonstrated APE growth of 32%, with the online channel putting a 3-year CAGR of 63% and offline channels at 24%. Continuing this trajectory in the quarter as well, our offline propr
Guidance — 20 items
Prashant Tripathy
opening
“I'm very happy to share that following a remarkable FY'25, we have carried forward our strong growth momentum into quarter 1 of FY'26 also delivering healthy growth while balancing the needs of our customers, partners, shareholders, and employees.”
Sustainable and Predictable Growth
opening
“Additionally, on a 2-year CAGR basis, we delivered a robust 25% growth, significantly ahead of the 16% CAGR for the private sector and more than twice the industry growth rate of 12%.”
Sustainable and Predictable Growth
opening
“On a 3-year basis, these channels have demonstrated APE growth of 32%, with the online channel putting a 3-year CAGR of 63% and offline channels at 24%.”
Sustainable and Predictable Growth
opening
“We have done a review of how this delta will be for the coming quarters, and I must state that it's going to plateau, and I don't expect a delta of more than 2% to 4% between the adjusted FYP and APE numbers going forward.”
Product Innovation to Drive Margins
opening
“Thus, our quarter 1 performance gives us good confidence, to maintain our margin guidance of 24% to 25% for FY'26 as we continue to invest in our distribution channels.”
Customer-Centric Approach
opening
“We are pleased to share that Axis Max Life achieved its highest-ever individual death claim paid ratio of 99.7% in FY'25, a powerful testament to the deep trust our customers place in us and our unwavering commitment to honoring that trust when it matters the most.”
Customer-Centric Approach
opening
“We continue to lead the industry in 13th-month persistency on several policy bases as per FY'25 rankings and hold the second position both 25th-month and 37th-month persistency on the same basis.”
Customer-Centric Approach
opening
“Our Net Promoter Score (NPS), where we just transitioned from a manual means to a digital means, remained strong at 54%, up from a baseline of 52% on an apples-to-apples basis at FY'25 exit.”
Digitization for Operational Efficiency
opening
“We also expect app-engaged customers to show higher relationship NPS and persistency, while increased DIY servicing will drive meaningful long-term cost savings.”
Digitization for Operational Efficiency
opening
“While global geopolitical developments continue to shape market dynamics, we remain confident in our ability to deliver on our guidance and drive sustained value to all our stakeholders.”
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Risks & concerns — 5 flagged
We also implemented several key interventions to streamline policy issuance and strengthen risk management during onboarding.
— Digitization for Operational Efficiency
In terms of the margin, I wanted to understand whether there is any impact of the surrender value regulation?
— Swarnabh Mukherjee
And are we getting some impact of being aggressive and margins being lower on non-par relatively?
— Prayesh Jain
In 13 months, we have also experienced some bit of weakness, though with the collection efforts as the year has kind of progressed, and we have been into 3, 4 months of the financial year, we have also seen an improvement happening, but there is some bit of pressure, which is evident on the 13 months.
— Amrit Singhx
And has there been any impact of higher ticket sales, which were done in March 2023, as other competition highlighted that because of that has also been lower.
— Neeraj Toshniwal
Q&A — 10 exchanges
Q
Congratulations on a great set of numbers. I have three questions. My first question is just for clarity for the coming months, can you also explain why the monthly numbers are distorted? I know that you have sold a lot of these monthly model products. So, which of the line items were the numbers in our monthly Life Insurance Council data? The number is getting wrongly represented, and that's why we guys, when we calculate the APE, it comes out much higher at 20%, 25%, whatever. And how long will this continue? Or should we expect a 2 to 4 percentage point difference, as you had mentioned, for
Amrit Singh
So, Shreya, thanks for these questions. I'll take the first one, which is the AFYP and APE numbers. And firstly, let me just correct you that the monthly numbers published are not wrong. Those monthly numbers that are published are accurate. It is just that those monthly numbers are on AFYP basis, whereas the overall financials reporting in addition to APE basis, we do also share APE basis, annualized premium equivalents. The difference between the methods is in the annualized premium equivalent. You recognize the entire premium of a policy for the first 12 months in the first instance itself,
Q
In terms of the margin, I wanted to understand whether there is any impact of the surrender value regulation?
Amrit Singh
You had a second question as well. So why don't you complete the second, and then I'll answer both. So, I was saying, sir, that there is a 260 basis point of expansion in the margin profile vis-a-vis from last year to this year. I just wanted to understand that are we being conservative in terms of maintaining our guidance? Or do we expect that going forward, given that this has come from good product mix alterations, do we expect that the upcoming quantum of expansion cannot be at this level. I just wanted to understand that on the margins part. And if I can squeeze in a little bit on the pro
Q
Congratulations to Sumit. You have resolved most of the issues related particularly the non-operating issues at the company. So, of course, expectations are going to be high for Sumit as well. Two questions. The first one is going to be in terms of your product mix, not so much margin. I mean, you are back to kind of where typically you want it to be, ULIP and non-ULIP mix. Is this trend going to continue for the rest of the year? Or I mean, if at all, the market environment turns conducive, you would be okay to increase ULIP. So that's first on product mix. The second one, more again a bit, I
Amrit Singh
First question on product mix, I think, yes, the product mix is very balanced. But having said, if the market opportunity presents us to drive higher momentum leveraging ULIP, which is actually a great product from a consumer perspective as well. And now with the design variance enhancements, where even a unit-linked design is actually offering healthy protection components. We will, in a calibrated manner, always keep looking at these opportunities. But overall, again, reiterating, I think we'd like to keep the product mix balanced between and very carefully balancing that between proprietary
Q
My first question is on the product and banca channel. So, could you help us understand how much Smart Vibe has contributed to non-par savings APE this quarter? And when I look at the banca channel, similar to the overall group level, there has been a shift towards protection and non-par. But given this channel has typically shown a greater proclivity towards selling ULIP, I just wanted to understand, is there a strategic shift that has happened as well here towards selling more non-par and protection, along with the new product? And finally, my last question is on the back book surplus and ne
Amrit Singh
Thanks, Supratim. I will not specifically comment on a specific product number, but needless to say, whenever a new product is launched, it does end up being over 50% of the category contribution, given the excitement that it provides to the field and the distribution teams, and that's the kind of success that we are seeing even in Smart Vibe. Specifically, coming to your comments around the overall ULIP mix within our banks. Some parts are market-driven, and some parts are also intentional. As we have been mentioning that we would definitely be working along with banks and especially our prom
Q
The first question is on the product level margins, whether they have improved with rider attachments or with respect to even ULIPs, whether the sum assured has been going up. So, whether the product level margin has improved? And your product-mix movement towards non-par the rates in the industry, have these been aggressive? And are we getting some impact of being aggressive and margins being lower on non-par relatively? So that's my first question. The second question is on the persistency of the near-month 13-month persistency; there's some marginal weakness. Is there anything to read into
Amrit Singhx
So, Prayesh, thanks for these questions. If you compare it with the previous year's same quarter, in certain categories, there is an improvement in margins and in certain categories, there has been a subsequent weakness in margins because of the overall design structure changing in certain product forms. But I will not get into the specifics of each of the segments, but I think all the elements that you spoke of, whether it is ride attachment, whether it is repricing of certain products, has definitely aided the margin expansions- for us. In non-participating, we have always been indicating, y
Q
First, congratulations, Sumit, and all the best to Prashant, sir, for your future endeavors. So, most of my questions have been answered, but just a couple of things. Number one, on EV, what is the extent of positive economic variance? And number two, on the Axis Bank buying the additional 1% in Max Life. So, where are we in that process? Yes, those are my 2 questions.
Sumit Madan
On non-operating variance, we have had a positive number of around INR431 crore. This is aided because of interest rate softening, which has led to positives on the debt side and certain positives on the equity side. On the second question? On the 1%, yes, there are discussions. I mean, that's something Axis Bank is pursuing with the RBI. And as soon as that approval comes through, Axis Bank will be doing either a primary or secondary investment. We are awaiting an approval.
Q
So, just a few questions from my side. First, if I look at the protection number and you mentioned that your pure protection has grown by 26%. So, if you assume like 10% of riders in the base of your overall protection, and that has also grown at like 300% plus. I just wanted to get, is it some degrowth in the health segment? I mean just wanted to triangulate the numbers within the protection segment. Second, your protection growth for the banca has been quite strong for the last 2 or 3 quarters. So, I just want to get some sense or color in terms of what the strategies are on that channel. An
Amrit Singh
So let me take some of these questions. So, your observation is correct with respect to protection. As Prashant mentioned, the core protection growth has been 26%. And as you're kind of recalibrating or regulating the numbers, there has been a de-growth in health products, largely actually post the changes to product regulations on 1st October. Because of the regulatory changes, there were certain weaknesses that came in the overall construct from a consumer perspective in this product, and that's led to some bit of a weakness in this health fixed benefit plan that we had launched. We continue
Q
First of all, congratulations to Sumit for the new role and Prashant Sir for the future endeavors. So, I got 2 questions. First is that have we done any repricing in the protection segment? Also wanted to understand what is the proportion of ROP in the protection. Secondly, we have seen that the proprietary channel growth has been low if I compare it with, say, '25 annual numbers. So, two things in this. What do you think the proportion of the app that you launch will help in the growth, as well as what are the strategies for growing this proprietary space? If you could just elaborate, that wo
Amrit Singh
So firstly, on protection repricing, the answer is yes, and protection repricing at various segment cohorts, wherever the opportunity allows you to do it in a calibrated manner, keeping competition and demand in play, we keep doing it. And we have done so even this quarter as well, and this is nothing new. Even in the previous quarters, I can say quarter 3, quarter 4, and quarter 1, each of these quarters. Wherever the opportunity in the segment opens-up, we continue to keep repricing it. On ROP, there is a big opportunity to improve here. Our return on premium has come down to more like 10% l
Q
My question is again on persistency. I wanted to check which particular channel has seen a slip in terms of lower persistency? And has there been any impact of higher ticket sales, which were done in March 2023, as other competition highlighted that because of that has also been lower. So, are we also seeing partial impact coming from that, or it's only on new impact we are seeing? Just wanted to get more quality.
Amrit Singh
Yes. Thanks, Neeraj, for that question. This is a bit secular kind of impact across channels. So, there is no specific channel that I can point out and say that sharp drop or anything like that. And we've also seen this more on the traditional side of policy, where some bit of collection has been a little slow to start with. But having said that, as every month is progressing, we are also seeing improvements in collection trends overall. With respect to your comment around the March '23 base, I think I did answer that question more possibly indirectly, that the proportion of greater than INR5
Q
Thank you, everyone, for being on our call, and we look forward to more such interactions. Have a good day and a nice weekend as well. Bye.
Management
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Speaking time
Amrit Singh
16
Moderator
12
Sumit Madan
3
Prayesh Jain
3
Dipanjan Ghosh
3
Prashant Tripathy
2
Swarnabh Mukherjee
2
Supratim Datta
2
Neeraj Toshniwal
2
Sustainable and Predictable Growth
1
Opening remarks
Amrit Singh
Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our call today morning for the results of June 2025. We had provided our presentations on the website and also on the exchange last evening. As always, joining me today are Mr. Prashant Tripathy, Managing Director and CEO of Axis Max Life Insurance; Sumit Madan, Chief Distribution Officer of Axis Max Life Insurance; and Nishant Kumar, CFO of MFSL. I would first invite Prashant to just walk us through the developments of the quarter.
Prashant Tripathy
Thank you, Amrit. Good morning, everyone. I'm very happy to share that following a remarkable FY'25, we have carried forward our strong growth momentum into quarter 1 of FY'26 also delivering healthy growth while balancing the needs of our customers, partners, shareholders, and employees. Let me first begin by sharing a great news that we at Axis Max Life Insurance are very proud of. And that is our ranking in the Great Place to Work Institute rating methodology that happened for 2025. There were several accolades that came our way, number one and most importantly, ranked number 28 among the top 100 best companies to work for, and about 2,400 companies of India participated in that survey. We also featured in the top 50 India's Best Workplaces, building a culture of innovation by all, and ranked among the top 25 best workplaces in BFSI 2025. I am very happy to share that for all the last 6 or 7 years that we have participated in that survey, we have ranked amongst the top 50, and we ar
Sustainable and Predictable Growth
In Q1FY26, our individual adjusted first-year premium grew by 23%, which is nearly 3x of the private sector growth of 8% and more than 4x of the overall industry growth of 5%. Additionally, on a 2-year CAGR basis, we delivered a robust 25% growth, significantly ahead of the 16% CAGR for the private sector and more than twice the industry growth rate of 12%. In terms of APE, which is annualized premium equivalent, we grew at 15% in Q1FY26, driven by both Prop as well as Banca channels. Our Prop channels have consistently served as the pillar of our strong growth over an extended period. On a 3-year basis, these channels have demonstrated APE growth of 32%, with the online channel putting a 3-year CAGR of 63% and offline channels at 24%. Continuing this trajectory in the quarter as well, our offline proprietary channels delivered a strong 18% APE. We continue to maintain leadership in the online space despite online APE remaining flat. And that's the reason you see a delta between 23% an
Product Innovation to Drive Margins
Coming to the products, where innovation is our endeavor all the time to drive margins, Axis Max Life remains deeply committed to leading in product innovation with a clear focus on creating value for all stakeholders, including customers, employees, partners, investors, and communities. In this quarter, we have launched another innovative flagship product called Smart VIBE, offering instant income in the first-year policy, the first policy year. Key features include enhanced protection through riders and policy continuance benefit, accumulation of survival benefit and premium offsets. This launch has helped us rebalance our product mix, reducing the share of ULIPs from 43% in quarter 1 last year to 36% this quarter. Additionally, our rider APE has surged by over 300%, contributing positively to a 36% growth in the protection segment. Our pure protection portfolio also recorded a healthy growth of 26%. Annuities and other strategic focus area grew by 40%, further strengthening our dive
Customer-Centric Approach
Focusing on some of the customer outcomes. We are pleased to share that Axis Max Life achieved its highest-ever individual death claim paid ratio of 99.7% in FY'25, a powerful testament to the deep trust our customers place in us and our unwavering commitment to honoring that trust when it matters the most. We continue to lead the industry in 13th-month persistency on several policy bases as per FY'25 rankings and hold the second position both 25th-month and 37th-month persistency on the same basis. In terms of premium, 13th month persistency stood at 86% compared to 87% in quarter 1 last year, while 25th month persistency has achieved or reached its all-time high at 75%, reflecting a year-on- year improvement of close to 500 basis points. Our Net Promoter Score (NPS), where we just transitioned from a manual means to a digital means, remained strong at 54%, up from a baseline of 52% on an apples-to-apples basis at FY'25 exit. Touchpoint NPS improved by 2 points from 55 to 57, and rela
Digitization for Operational Efficiency
Digitization is another focus area for us, and our ongoing digital journey continues to drive operational excellence, customer satisfaction, and scalable innovation across the enterprise. We recently launched the Axis Max Life app, a fully in-house developed digital platform that integrates life insurance servicing with wellness benefits, an industry first in the life insurance space. Available on Android and iOS, the app offers seamless policy management, premium payments, online purchases, and AI-powered chatbots for both insurance and wellness support. Built on a modern tech stack, the app is deeply embedded in our ecosystem to enable real-time engagement and analytics. We also expect app-engaged customers to show higher relationship NPS and persistency, while increased DIY servicing will drive meaningful long-term cost savings. So, to all the people who are on the call and happen to be our customers, I'll sincerely urge that you download our app and be our app engaged customers. In
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