TATA AIG’s two new ULIPs with life cover
Tata AIG Life introduced two new products named InvestAssure Gold Supreme and InvestAssure Maximizer. InvestAssure Gold Supreme is a non-participating whole life ULIP with payment terms 5 or 7 years. Policyholder can opt for life protection for whole life. Investassure Maximizer is a non-participating Endowment ULIP with the payment terms 5 or 7 years. Policyholder can opt life protection from 20 to 40 years. It has two options Premium Life cover and Standard Life cover. In both policies the customers are entitled to loyalty additions of 0.25% of the fund value paid to them every 5 years starting from 10th year completion. Both the plans qualify for tax benefits.

HDFC’s Sampoorn Samridhi
HDFC Life launched a new traditional product called Sampoorn Samridhi. The product offers benefits of Endowment Plan and a Whole Life Plan. The customer can choose any option between Enhanced Cash Option and Enhanced Cover option. Mr. Paresh Parasnis, ED &COO, HDFC Standard Life said, “We design products that are in line with our customer centric approach.  HDFC Life Sampoorn Samridhi is a flexible and affordable life insurance product for all customer segments, which offers a lump sum payout at the end of the selected term to fulfill long-term goals. It also gives an opportunity to customer to create a corpus for his loved ones through Enhanced Cover Option”. HDFC Life Sampoorn Samridhi offers flexibility in premium paying monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and annual and also options in deciding the term of the policy. Policies with sum Assured of Rs. 5 lakhs and above are entitled to a discount of 5% on the basic premium.

Metlife’s turn around reported
MetLife India achieved a net profit of Rs.353.5 mn for the financial year ended 2010-11. The company reported Rs.2.7 bn loss last year. The achievement is due to improved operational efficiency, good product mix with more focus on traditional products. Mr. Rajesh Relan, MD & CEO, MetLife (India) said,  “I am glad that we have achieved a break-even an year ahead of our plan. This is a testimony to the promise we made to our shareholders 5 years back to make the company profitable, while delivering growth. We have been able to balance our growth with profitability despite the uncertainty in the sector and this can be attributed to our healthy product mix and operational efficiency initiatives”.

IDBI Federal’s new single policy for seniors
IDBI Federal Life launched a new plan for seniors of age above 50 years. The product is named as Termsurance Seniors Insurance Plan. The policy can be bought after the age of 50 and upto the age of 85 years with premiums as low as Rs.100 per month. No questions, no medical tests and offers life cover for whole of life. Mr. G V Nageswara Rao, MD& CEO of IDBI federal Life said, “Life Insurance should ideally be taken early, but there are a sizeable number of people who would have missed taking an insurance cover when young. At IDBI Federal, we believe in challenging conventions, so we looked at a simple term plan and re-engineered it. With this unique Termsurance Seniors, a first-of-its-kind product in India, it will be never too late to get covered.”

Impressive performance by Future Generali
Future Generali India Insurance achieved an impressive growth of 58% in the financial year 2010-11. The company registered GWP (Gross Written Premium) of Rs.661 crores and 681940 policies were sold in the same period. An increase of 23% compared to last year in terms of policies.
  
KG Krishnamoorthy Rao, MD & CEO, Future Generali India Insurance Company said, “Amidst market challenges, continued pressure on premium rates following de-tariffing and an increasingly competitive scenario, our focus was on maintaining the momentum in terms of business volumes while always ensuring that the quality of business was not compromised. We are overall optimistic about business prospects for 2012. We are looking at growing our retail insurance portfolio through Mallassurance, Agency and Bancassurance.” 
The company has 94 branches across the country at present. Their insurance products are distributed through their 163 Future Group retail outlets.

TATA AIG Life’s ‘Gyan Kosh’ with safety and security benefits
TATA AIG life launched a new ULIP product named Tata AIG Life Insurance Gyan Kosh. The plan focuses on various needs of the customers such as children’s education, marriage, business etc. It is a non-participating Unit linked endowment policy and comes with in-built benefits. It gives protection options Security Net and Safety Net. In addition, the insured can opt one of the two Waiver of Premium benefits - Family Guard and Family Advantage. Gyan Kosh gives the customer to choose the option from seven investment funds according to their risk taking. Suresh Mahalingam, MD & CEO, Tata AIG Life Insurance Company Ltd said, “It is the dream of every parent to see their child achieve success in all their endeavors in life and save actively for their education to build the foundation of this success.

Tata AIG Life Insurance Gyan Kosh with its two protection options and inbuilt benefits is designed to help parents not only assemble their desired savings but also protect it in case of any exigencies. The plan ensures that in the unfortunate event of the death or disability of insured, the journey of their loved ones towards success and happiness is not hampered by any financial constraints.” The policy is for individuals in the age group of 18 to 50 years.

IRDA’s strict regulations on ULIPs – Lower new business
The Life insurance sector witnessed in the first two months of the current financial year decreased new business premium income due to the strict regulations on ULIPs.According to IRDA it declined 12.3%. Mr.GV Nageswara Rao, MD and CEO of IDBI Federal life said that the sale of traditional products couldn’t increase the ULIP sales. LIC faced 8% decline in the new business premium income whereas private sector’s fall is 23.3%. Insurance sector feels that the normal growth will happen in another six months.

Max Newyork life’s “fast track plan”
Max New York Life introduced ‘Fast Track Plan’ which is a ULIP product offers customers faster and safer growth with shorter policy terms. Mr. Rajesh Sud, CEO and MD Max New York Life Insurance said, “We are excited to offer life insurance products that respond realistically to consumers needs. For all those who in today’s busy and demanding life style have not had the time to plan for their finances in an effective and efficient manner, Max New York Life has designed ‘Fast Track Plan’ keeping in mind the need to expedite their savings and fulfill their dreams without losing any further time.

The product therefore allows an entry age of up to 60 years with coverage upto age 70, and the flexibility to choose policy tenure and protection multiple to the consumers which helps in faster wealth accumulation – be it for savings, retirement or family security.”

RIL to buy Bharti AXA
Reliance Industries Limited Mr. Mukesh Ambani agrees to buy the 74% stake of Bharti Enterprises in their JV’s with AXA in both Life and General insurance business. This deal is yet to be approved by regulatory authorities including IRDA

TATA AIG Life breaks even
Tata AIG Life insurance has reported a net profit of Rs.51.79 crore in financial year 2010-11. Incidentally this has enabled them break-even in their 10th year. It is reported that they have achieved an increase of 14% in total premium income and their ratio of operating expenses to total premium reduced to 24%. ULIP formed 72% of their new business premium of Rs.1332 crore during 2010-11. Mr. Suresh Mahalingam, MD & CEO, Tata AIG Life Insurance Company Ltd. said, “Tata AIG Life looks back on a successful fiscal. Our cost optimization strategies and continued focus on persistency of business over the last four quarters resulted in this profitable growth.”

Aviva India’s remarkable achievement
Aviva India Life Insurance reported achieving a profit of Rs.290 mn in financial year 2010-11 against a reported lost of R.s3.45 bn. in last year. The company breaks even in completion of 9th year.

Mr. TR Ramachandran, CEO & MD, Aviva India said, “Our business focus has been on sustainable and profitable growth driven by a quality led business model focused on Bancassurance. The transition to profitability is a result of proactive steps taken to
re-organise the product portfolio and continuous management focus on achieving higher productivity, improving persistency and strategic cost management.” The achievement of the company was due to their clear focus of the protection and child segment, which has a large potential and their many customer centric efforts.

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