LIC is about to go public and has been losing market share to competitors for years

India’s largest life insurer may struggle with private players.

According to GlobalData, a data and analytics company, Life Insurance Corporation has consistently lost to the likes of SBI Life, HDFC Life, ICICI Prudential and Max Life.

“With the exception of LIC, all four of the top life insurers have experienced double-digit growth over the 2016-20 period,” said GlobalData. The life insurance market in India is highly concentrated. The top 5 made up 87% of that in 2020.

“LIC’s revenue growth has slowed in recent years as the company relies heavily on the traditional agency-led distribution model,” said Swarup Kumar Sahoo, Senior Insurance Analyst at GlobalData. “Whereas private insurers have a more diversified distribution network.”

“While LIC prepares for its IPO [initial public offering] in 2022, the continued decline in its market share could negatively impact investor sentiment,” said Sahoo.

LIC is preparing for its mega IPO launch, which has been postponed due to market volatility following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

This article first appeared on Quartz.