Mr S B Mathur, Secretary General of Life Insurance Council, a statutory body and an association of all the Life insurance companies in India, speaks of the reservations in the industry that the ULIP jurisdiction issue is only shadow boxing for achieving the ‘no entry load’ demand. Talking to K Nitya Kalyani of Premium, Mr Mathur, retired Chairman of LIC, explains how there are many misconceptions about Life insurance selling and its basis in the industry today on which the arguments about abolition of commission or the jurisdiction of ULIPs are being based.

An old year has ended and a new year has begun. Milestones 2009 recaptures the mood of the insurance industry at the close of the year 2008 and beginning of the year 2009.
Every month it goes on to highlight the stories of each issue that best summed up the state of the industry. In conclusion the story of the Year is told through Numbers.

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) is considering allowing Life insurance companies to invest part of policyholders’ funds in equity derivatives, a move that would allow these firms to balance the risks emanating from cash markets, according to media reports. Equity derivative is a financial contract whose value is derived from the estimated future price [...]

December’s cover story on ‘The Decade of Transformation’ elicits opinion from institution heads. These institutions are the Life and General Insurance Councils, two educational training institutions Insurance Institute of India and Financial Planning Standard Boards and the National Federation of Insurance Field Workers of India and the Life Insurance Agents Federation of India representing agents.

Many of those who matter, including Mr D Swarup himself, have expressed their opinion about the recommendation phasing out agents’ commission to which the media has given wide coverage

Even as disbelieving agents had little time to react to the Swarup Committee recommendation phasing out commissions, Mr S B Mathur, Secretary General, Life Insurance Council, said the, ‘The Report is Unfair’ and select data had been used to project a tarnished picture of the industry.

Though the Swarup Committee in its recommendation No. 10 proposes a change in the commission structure, among the arguments put forth against it are it is not final in nature, the spectacular growth of new business premium in recent years are because of ULIPs and insurance penetration is still low in India.

Challenges can arrive in any form and from any direction, risk is part of life. As insurance agents you know this very well. You have faced reluctant prospects and their rude rejections, indifferent policyholders and their forgetfulness. Today, as opposed to ten years ago, there is tremendous competition in the market. Many people thought that [...]

The Indian stock markets declined drastically in the third quarter of the financial year 2008-09 but a bigger decline was prevented by the ongoing investment plans of the Indian Life insurance companies, say media reports. Life insurance companies invested around Rs 47,900 crore between April and December, 2008 in the stock market according to data [...]