PertaLife eyes capital hike to boost coverage of captive market

It is also tapping other state enterprises and beyond.

PertaLife Insurance is boosting its capital by 65% to $61m (IDR 1t) in the next five years as it seeks to more than double its coverage of workers within the state-owned oil and natural gas company Pertamina Group to 30%.

The capital increase would also let the government-owned insurer extend its reach to other state enterprises and the private sector, Hanindio W. Hadi, president-director at PertaLife, told Insurance Asia in an interview.

“Our strategy includes integrating employee benefits with life and health insurance for Pertamina vendors,” he said. “We are also innovating and digitizing our product offerings to expand our reach into the private sector and other state-owned enterprises.”

PertaLife is also expanding its products for its captive clients to boost premium income and increase market share from about 14%, he said. The company provides 12 products across 87 entities within the Pertamina group.

Key initiatives include executive severance benefits for outsourced workers, business travel insurance, health and post-service insurance for the group’s directors and commissioners, Hanindio said.

PertaLife’s flagship products include whole life insurance and endowment combination products. One of its whole life products has a 61% market share, while its endowment combination product holds 23.64%.

From 2022 to 2024, PertaLife posted compound annual growth of 35.06%, driven mainly by premium income from a product that provides financial support to active employees, retirees, and their spouses to cover funeral transportation costs.

Hanindio said they are using data analytics to better understand customer behavior and demographics, and engage in cross-selling through Pertamina affiliates. The company continues to simplify policy access and educates users about the benefits of insurance.

He said digital innovation plays a key role in PertaLife’s strategy.

The company’s P-Life mobile app, launched in 2022, lets clients access policy details, submit claims and pay premiums.

“Additionally, we are optimizing digital claims processing through an online submission system and launching a cloud-based call center,” Hanindio said.

PertaLife’s  gross written premiums rose 38.7% last year to $76m (IDR1.25t) from a year earlier, while net income grew 1.09% to $5.9m (IDR 97.18b).