Established in 1992 as the first private life insurance company after the Government of Pakistan opened up life insurance to the private sector, EFU Life today is the largest life insurance company with over 50% of the private sector market share.
EFU Life is part of the EFU Group which has a history dating back to 1932, when the Eastern Federal Union Insurance Company was registered in the city of Calcutta, India. The Company operated in India and Burma and sold both general and life insurance. In 1947, with the formation of Pakistan, EFU (as the company was popularly recognized) moved to Pakistan and rapidly established itself as the leading insurance company in the Country. By 1961, the Company was the largest insurance company not only in Pakistan but also in all of Afro-Asia excluding Japan. It remained so until 1972 when life insurance in Pakistan was nationalized. From this time onwards EFU operated solely as a general insurance company. From its re-birth in 1992 to date, in a relatively short span of 14 years, EFU Life''s brand name is synonymous with innovation, quality customer service and professionalism.
EFU Life is the first, and currently the only life insurance company in Pakistan to be awarded the ISO 9001:2000 certification. The success of EFU Life can be attributed to a number of factors, which the management calls the "EFU Advantage". These factors include the Company''s products, sales force, systems, values and people.
Some of the EFU Life firsts in Pakistan are: computerized product illustrations for clients; unit linked products; critical illness products; inflation protection benefit; tax qualified pension plans and extended critical illness product. The Company markets its individual life products through a professional full time direct sales force - an integral part of the EFU Advantage.
The Company''s values center on providing "Client Satisfaction". The values are defined by the principles of good conduct, moral integrity and impeccable ethics. This value system is part of EFU Life''s strategy to position itself as a company that cares for its clients. Its Managing Director and Chief Executive, Mr. Taher G Sachak, has helped in transforming the landscape of the life insurance industry in Pakistan. Prior to coming here in 1994, he was the Executive Director of Century Life, a large Life Insurance company in the UK. He took charge of EFU Life when it had only 10 employees. His particular expertise lies in sales management and product design. This product design expertise enabled EFU Life to pioneer new concepts in Pakistan such as "unit linking" and "critical illness". These innovations introduced by EFU Life gave the average investor the opportunity, for the first time in Pakistan, to avail the latest products marketed in the West. From these initial 10 employees EFU Life now has over 150 Head Office staff and a highly trained professional direct marketing force of over 1,600 spread over a network of 77 branches. The Company''s gross premium income has increased from Rs 65 million in 1994 to 2.5 Billion in 2005.