• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Nilanjan Dey

Plan series of awareness campaign

Advertisement

Kolkata Feb. 12 With the market's attention now drawn more firmly to the pension regulator's latest moves, insurance companies are trying to ride the wave by warning about the potential increase in the cost of pension planning, to be incurred if consumers defer their decisions to buy pension products.

The industry, which has rolled out a number of pension products in recent times, is aware that this will be a major area in the days ahead, considering the average under-insured Indian and the issues he may face in his retirement years - greater longevity and rising costs of medical treatment.

Putting off the decision to buy may prove to be very costly for individuals, says Mr Sam Ghosh, who heads Bajaj Allianz. "There is no point in not buying pension products if an individual is not otherwise covered," he maintained, adding that a number of socio-economic changes will drive the segment in future.

Insurers are also aware of the pension regulatory authority's latest activities with regard to NPS, the new pension scheme that is now aimed at government employees. Aviva, which recently flagged off a promotional exercise on pensions, has urged clients to do this calculation right away.

They can also see online what it would cost them to delay purchase decisions, Mr Bert Paterson, Managing Director, said, adding that clients can also prepare retirement plans in line with what they have calculated.

Postponement may often go against the principles of de-risking, feels Mr Jayanta Roy, Director, Peerless General Finance & Investment Co, which plans to shore up distribution of savings & investment products.

More Stories on : Pension Plans | Strategy

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Thomas Cook offers money transfer

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line