• HDFC Standard Life tops the Annual Report ranking chart for financial Services sector
• With 4 annuals rated as outstanding and 14 as appreciable, exceptional annuals remains elusive
• HDFC Standard Life, PNB Housing Finance and SBI Life bag the top-3 positions
• Insurance segment outshines others, pushing three of the four listed entities into the top-10

By Pravin Kumar Ujjain

Mumbai: Insurance companies in the country have surprised the financial sector by outperforming even the leading Indian banker in annual report making. As per a report from ³ReportInsights² released today the insurance sector has outperformed banks, Non Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and other capital market constituents. The report was based on a comparative study of annual reports of financial services sector.

The study covered annual reports of 124 NSE listed companies, active in the financial services market.  Annual reports of 34 companies were selected for the detailed study and from them 18 were subjected to in-depth analysis to finalise a comprehensive report.

The review titled ‘AR Monitor ­ Financial Services’, is in effect a diagnostic study on overall health of Indian annual reports and has surgically examined and critically evaluated almost every aspect of the available reports (except financial statements).

Annual reports were diagnosed on four parameters namely engagement value, info-richness, strategic orientation and performance analysis. On an overall basis, none of the reports was rated “exceptional”. But Aditya Birla Capital bagged this special status for info-richness, PNB Housing Finance for executive message and HDFC Standard Life for management discussion & analysis. Aditya Birla Capital topped on strategic orientation too.

Top rank for performance analysis and engagement value went to RBL Bank and PNB Housing Finance respectively. The analytical study concluded with drawing a dream-8 by picking best reports on 8 attributes. Three attributes were picked from PNB Housing Finance and two from Aditya Birla Capital. SBI Life, HDFC Standard Life and Edelweiss Financial Services got one picking each.