How ABCL's businesses survived the lockdown

Mr. Ajay Srinivasan is the Chief Executive of Aditya Birla Group's Financial Services.

This is part 2 of a behind-the-scenes look at how the conglomerate navigated the Covid-19 lockdown, and its impact on various verticals. Read Part 1 here

By the time the lockdown was formally announced by the government, most of ABCL’s subsidiaries had shut branches and transitioned to working from home. Here is an account of how the various businesses fared in the lockdown period.

The life insurance business focused on pre-approved digital products and simplified tele-sales journeys to offer products to its existing customers. During April-May 2020, the company did new business premium equivalent to last year, which was much ahead of overall industry trend. What’s more, 100 percent of this business was sourced digitally. ABCL’s Life Insurance business settled 1,041 claims in the last 15 days of March amidst the lockdown.

The company's WhatsApp self-service went up by 65 percent in April 2020 vis-a-vis FY20 average, while digital reach increased over four times in April 2020 as compared to FY20 Average. The business recorded digital renewals of 82% in April 2020 vis-à-vis 58 percent in FY20 average.

The gross premium for the health insurance business grew 71 percent year on year.

The business was also able to leverage strategic partnerships such as PhonePe and were able to acquire 15,000 new customers during this time. Subsequently, it accelerated digital adoption and achieved 97 percent digital transactions in April 2020. The AMC business conducted nearly 1 Million digital transactions under lockdown.

On the positive side, the business-built liquidity buffers by raising Rs 4,500 during lockdown at optimal pricing. Over Rs 3,100 crore of term loans were sanctioned. The lending business raised Rs 400 crore from NCD in April ’20. ABCL’s lending business ensured availability of sufficient liquidity for FY21 even in stress case scenario for its NBFC and HFC businesses.

The company helped employees utilise the lockdown time to learn new skills. The learning teams consistently used digital platforms to push out new content. As a result, the employees absorbed as much learning in 30 days that would take 4-6 months in normal circumstances.

While CEOs continued to regularly connect with employees, I personally wrote a series of communications every week, sharing how the businesses were dealing with the lockdown, and what employees could do during this time to add value to themselves and the business. Through these emails, I also asked employees to directly write to him with their ideas.

They started with emailer campaigns to all customers, one business every week.

On the wellness side, ABCL's health business conducted virtual yoga classes, talks by nutritionists, virtual fitness classes and mental health sessions through Facebook to help keep employees and customers healthy. Starting in March, ABCL created a dedicated social media platform for advisors to go live every week, to advise customers and prospects on how to look after their health and wealth. These lives reached 2 million (20 lakh) customers each week, and 2 lakh customers and prospects participated in the sessions each week.

Fourth and last, digital is the only way forward. Even some of the company’s older customers and advisors, who initially stayed miles away from digital, started using their apps. I believe that this is the push everyone needed to truly adopt digital. Unfortunately, it took a global pandemic to make digital a part of life; now the entire financial services sector needs to start rethinking everything within the digital frame.

The writer is Chief Executive of Aditya Birla Capital