CHILD PLANS HELP SECURE THE FUTURE
nil - 17/08/2009
Source: Mint
The insurance business in India isn’t just growing, but also becoming more sophisticated in terms of
product offerings.
I have been blessed with a child a month ago and have been approached by an agent to buy a
child plan. What are the advantages of buying one?
Planning for your child’s future is an important decision in any parent’s life. While you may well have a
financial plan in place for your own future, it is equally vital that you make similar provisions for your
child’s future. There are a variety of products available to provide for the child.
Child insurance plans are tailor-made to act as a savings tool to secure your child’s future. Child plans
help address your child’s future education and/or marriage needs. They also provide the capital that
your child may need at a later stage to venture into a business. The earlier you start investing, the
higher would be the fund value of your policy on maturity.
What is a group pension scheme? Do life insurance companies offer such a scheme?
A group pension scheme is a product that an employer sets up for the benefit of his employees. All staff
can become members. Most of the life insurance companies offer group superannuation products. A
well-structured group superannuation plan helps to create an irrevocable fund during the working
lifetime of the employees for their pension benefits after retirement.
The employer can make a contribution of up to 15% of basic salary of the employee towards this fund.
The employee can also make voluntary contributions to the superannuation fund
GROWTH
INSURERS EXPECT GROWTH IN ONE YEAR
Kolkata - 07/08/2009
Source: The Economic Times
Insurance executives the world over are cautiously optimistic about the next 12 months, with many
expecting to witness growth. This has been underscored by a recent joint survey by KPMG International
and the Economist Intelligence Unit.
This assumes significance as the life insurance industry in India witnessed a small 1% growth in
premium income during the first quarter of the current fiscal, against the previous corresponding period.
The Economist Intelligence Unit is the business information arm of The Economist Group, publisher of
The Economist. KPMG conducted their insurance survey, A Glimmer of Hope: Growth prospects in the
Global Insurance Industry and the Escalation of Risk and Capital Management, which saw 315 industry
executives being interviewed from 49 countries.
The results show that more than half executives surveyed expect an improvement in organic growth
and an improvement in growth by acquisition or take-over during the next 12 months.
They are also positive about their business prospects with respect to volumes, expense ratios and
reserves. They are, however, not so positive about their share valuation — only 40% expected to see
an improvement in valuation. The survey also revealed that executives foresee a continuing lack of
confidence in the capital markets as roadblocks to the recovery.
Concern over the impact of a weakened economy, and particularly the capital markets, is further
evident in the increased focus that insurance companies are placing on risk management. In fact, 81%
of respondents have increased the level of priority they place on market risk in the past 12 months.
Credit risk has the next biggest priority, according to 79% of respondents. While these were the largest
priorities, at least two-thirds of respondents had increased their priority on all core business risk,
operational risk, economic capital risk, underwriting risk and stress testing.
In terms of drivers for an insurance company, current and future regulatory requirements were
considered very important by over 80% of respondents. "Regulators and governments will monitor the
progress of insurers in their efforts to strengthen risk management and capital planning practices. Well-
designed and actionable procedures for mitigating the risks that created so much instability recently will
be key to restoring faith in the markets," a KPMG executive said in the report.
Despite respondents saying that they are significantly increasing their focus on risk management
activities, the survey also indicates that they are already confident in their achievements in this area.
When asked about their effectiveness in 11 different areas of risk management, over two-thirds
responded that they believed their company was effective in each case.
Reliance Life Insurance launches unique ‘Reliance Secure Child Plan’
Only plan to offer fixed income for life even in case of accidental disability of the child
Plan offers rewarding online community for child’s overall development
Company also donated Rs 5 Lakh to Akanksha Foundation, for underprivileged children
Mumbai, 21st November, 2007: Reliance Life Insurance, a fast growing life insurance player in the
country, today announced the launch of Reliance Secure Child plan. The launch was announced by
Mr. P. Nandagopal, CEO, Reliance Life Insurance, at a conference today.
One of the unique propositions of Reliance Secure Child Plan, is that in the event of total and
permanent disability of the child due to an accident, the plan offers the benefit of fixed income at a
rate of 10% of the sum insured under the policy, per annum, payable to the child throughout his/her
life.
“The Reliance Secure Child Plan aims to offer an innovative product with unique and fun-filled
benefits to children while securing their future. This is in line with our strategy to offer best-in-class
products to our customers”, said Mr. P. Nandagopal while launching the product.
The plan also offers an inbuilt waiver of premium benefit in the event of the death of the insured
proposer (parent), that protects the future of the child by paying all the future premiums, so that the
plan remains in full force.
Another novel offering is the playground program - an online community that addresses the
educational and recreational needs of the child through fun-filled quizzes, puzzle, games, online
jokes, contests and kid zone and offers redeemable e-Points for his/her achievements.
The company also handed over a cheque of Rs. 5 lakhs to Akanksha Foundation - a non-profit
organization that educates less privileged children from Mumbai’s slum areas and provides them
with vocational opportunities.
“Our association with Akanksha is a small gesture by the company to contribute towards the
development of underprivileged children in the country,” said Mr. Nandagopal while handing over
the cheque to Ms. Tina Vajpeyi, Chief Financial Officer, Akanksha Foundation.
The proceeds were collected by the company post a social on-air SMS campaign undertaken
across key cities in India, on 14th November (Children’s Day) wherein Reliance Life Insurance
contributed Rs. 5 per SMS received, to Akansha.
About Reliance Life Insurance
Reliance Life Insurance is one of the India’s top 5 private sector life insurance companies with
business premium including renewal premium of over INR 1000 Crore (as on 31st March 2007) with
a growing distribution network of over 1,35,000 agents across over 340 branches in India. Reliance
Life Insurance is an associate company of Reliance Capital Limited, which is a part of the Reliance
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group.
Contact:
Madhavi Behl
Corporate Communications
Reliance Capital
022 3047 0853 / 93245 95666
[Link]@[Link]
