May 22, 2008	Thursday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 16, 1429

KARACHI, May 21: Adamjee Insurance Company Limited is all set to begin the life insurance business next month, sources close to the company said.

“The company expects to receive the licence from the Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) in the next two weeks, following which it would start underwriting the first life insurance policy in June,” sources who asked not to be named, said.

The company had established the joint venture (JV) with a South African insurance giant for its diversification into the life business.

The JV had looked forward to the commencement of business in January, but the process had slowed down after the end of December 2007, riots and civil commotion following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

The events had shifted the company’s concentration to its core general insurance business, in which the company holds almost a quarter of the share of Pakistan’s insurance market.

The company hoped to be able to augment its underwriting income from general insurance business through earnings from the new line of life insurance, in spite of competition.

In addition to the conventional mode of insurance, the company has charted out other innovative ways to attract clients, by the use of extensive network of the group’s MCB Bank branches.