The Hindu Business Line : ULIPs popular despite market crash: LIC chief

Mumbai, Oct. 1 Despite the crash in the stock markets, there is no decisive shift from unit-linked insurance plans (ULIPs) to traditional policies, said Mr T. S. Vijayan, Chairman, Life Insurance Corporation.

Mr Vijayan was talking on the sidelines of a CII insurance summit.

The company was seeing a growth in both the ULIP and non-ULIP policies, he said.

Explaining the prevailing negative sentiments in the markets, Mr Vijayan said it is a result of people reacting after seeing the decline of daily net asset values (NAVs) of ULIP’s.

A ULIP is a long-term product and its performance should not be judged by its daily net asset value, he said.

Echoing his sentiment, Ms Shikha Sharma, Managing Director & CEO, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, said the company’s proportion of ULIPs versus endowment has not changed.

There have been no changes in the pattern of redemption also. It was an attractive time to invest in the stock markets, as it would be a good investment in the long term, Ms Sharma said.

When asked if LIC will reduce investment in the stock markets, he said it would depend on the wishes of the customers whether they would want to continue investing in the stock markets.

He clarified that the timing of the investment would be in the hands of the company and it would take decisions taking into consideration the market conditions.

ULIP accounts for a considerable portion of the fresh business of life insurance companies.

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