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Remya Nair

Mumbai, Dec. 26 At a time when investors are looking to park their earnings in safe havens such as fixed deposits, given the current volatile stock market scenario, life insurance companies are offering guaranteed-return products to lure risk-averse investors. In addition, these insurance products also offer tax benefits and a life cover.

The country’s biggest life insurer, LIC, launched ‘Jeevan Aastha’, a single premium product offering guaranteed returns of 9-10 per cent depending on the tenure of the investment. The scheme, launched on December 8, has already sold one lakh policies and collected Rs 700 crore. LIC plans to collect Rs 25,000 crore through this close-ended plan, which closes on January 21, 2009.

Aegon Religare Life Insurance launched a single premium plan that gives a fixed annual compounded return of 7.2 per cent. The plan, called the ‘Aegon Religare Guaranteed Return Plan’, was also launched this month and is available till January 31.

‘Bondsurance’, launched by IDBI Fortis Life insurance, offers a guaranteed return of 7.32 per cent for a 10-year investment if the investor falls in the age group of 8-32 years. In the current scenario, people are risk-averse and find the offer of safe and assured returns an attractive proposition, said an insurance analyst.

Companies are confident of maintaining their solvency margins and providing the assured returns, despite a softening interest rate regime and when yields of government securities are below 6 per cent, he said. “Our investments will be a mix of government securities, PSU bonds and highly rated corporate papers, which provide good returns,” said Mr Aneesh Srivastava, Chief Investment Officer, IDBI Fortis Life Insurance Company.

Mr Rajiv Jamkhedkar, Chief Executive Officer, Aegon Religare Life Insurance Company, said, “We have the underlying asset base to offer the guaranteed returns that our product promises.”

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