Sanlam’s India business is growing, according to group chief executive Paul Hanratty, after the insurer moved in the first half of 2026 from minority investor to controlling shareholder in two of its Shriram insurance partners. The results for the six months to 30 June 2026 were reported on 12 to 13 September, and Hanratty said Sanlam is optimistic about the outlook for the full year.
The statement, as carried by Daily Excelsior, was: “Sanlam grew core earnings and is optimistic about the outlook for the full 2026 financial year. We are investing heavily in our home market, across the continent, and in India.”
## From minority investor to control
Sanlam began working with the Chennai-based Shriram Group in May 2005, when it took a 26% stake in Shriram Life Insurance. Since then the partnership has widened into general insurance, capital markets, wealth management and stockbroking.
The step to control came in two stages. On 5 April 2024 Sanlam announced it would raise its holdings in Shriram General Insurance from 40% to 51% and in Shriram Life Insurance from 42% to 54%, while its stake in Shriram Finance moved from 10.2% to 9.5%, Moneyweb reported. Hanratty said then that “India is a core market and a strategic pillar in achieving long-term earnings growth”, pointing to “very strong growth dynamics, with relatively low insurance penetration.”
Once regulatory approvals came through, Sanlam’s effective economic stake rose to 68.72% in Shriram Life Insurance and 50.99% in Shriram General Insurance, according to Daily Excelsior’s account of the interim report. The company’s 2025 annual results, covered by Moneyweb, also said its effective holdings in both insurers exceeded 50% by early 2026, and that management expected continued new business growth driven by faster expansion in India.
## What the Shriram companies do
Moneyweb’s report on the 2024 deal describes the three Shriram companies. Shriram General Insurance sells motor, travel and home cover. Shriram Life Insurance targets underbanked and unbanked people with long-term financial products. Shriram Finance is India’s second-largest retail non-bank financial services company. The interim report also noted that Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) made strategic capital injections into Shriram Finance to support retail expansion in underserved semi-urban and rural markets.
## Wealth management as the next step
In June 2025 the two groups launched Shriram Wealth, a 50:50 joint venture, according to Cafemutual. It plans to onboard 500 wealth relationship managers and reach assets under management of Rs 50,000 crore within five years, aimed at wealthy individuals in India. Hanratty said at the launch: “We see wealth management as a natural evolution as India’s economy grows, and people become wealthier.”
## How it fits into Sanlam’s results
India is a growing part of a group that reported record new business volumes of R496 billion for 2025, up 22% on 2024, with net client cash flows more than doubling to R127 billion, according to Moneyweb. Its net result from financial services rose 20% to R15.9 billion on a like-for-like basis, while headline earnings fell 18%, mainly because of corporate transactions in 2024 and 2025 and lower investment returns after the rand strengthened. Sanlam declared a dividend of 485 cents a share, up 9% from 445 cents.
The 2025 results also showed the group reshaping its footprint elsewhere. It completed the Ninety One integration, keeping about 12.5% ownership, and exited its general insurance operations in Zimbabwe, Niger and Zambia.
## The strategy behind the investment
Business Day reported in January 2026 that Sanlam’s market value had passed R200 billion, with the share price up 85% over three years, and that Hanratty’s contract had been extended to December 2027. His strategy has three parts: dominance at home, expansion across the continent, and building a non-banking financial institution in India. Sanlam described India as a “once in a lifetime opportunity”.
The same report said Shriram Finance has about R550 billion in loans, and that Japan’s MUFG Bank put in $4.4 billion in December 2025 for a 20% stake in it. It put India’s asset management market at $660 billion, expected to double by 2030.
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