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| LIC scans 200 firms for investment |
| BS Reporter / Hyderabad Jun 04, 2009, 00:56 IST |
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Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the country’s largest institutional investors, is scanning around 200 companies on a daily basis for possible investments, a senior executive said on Wednesday.
LIC managing director D K Mehrotra told reporters on the sidelines of a software launch function that the public sector insurer would look at the the company's credentials and also the industry segments before investing. Its in-house research team was constantly giving feedback on the companies and the industry segments, which were performing well.
In line with its investment plan for the current financial year, LIC was expected to step up equity investment by 25 per cent to around Rs 50,000 crore in equities, as against Rs 40,300 crore during 2008-09.
With the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) asking the life insurer to ensure that there were no fresh companies where LIC’s exposure breached the 10 per cent ceiling, the company was on the lookout for new stocks.
Mehrotra also said that the public sector insurance company would put about 15 per cent of its investable funds in the infrastructure sector though he did not disclose any numbers. "With infrastructure showing signs of recovery, LIC would not shy away from investing in the sector," he said.
"We will not take a short-term call on investments. We are looking for a long-term relationship,'' Mehrotra said, adding that the company would exercise caution in investing in real estate projects in view of the prevailing market conditions.
LIC’s total premium income, which includes renewal premium and first premium income, is expected to be over Rs 1,75,000 crore, around 12 per cent higher than last year’s level of around Rs 1,55,700 crore. The company expected a 4.5 per cent increase in new premium during the current financial year to Rs 50,000 crore, as against Rs 47,828 crore last year.
But if trends over the last few months are anything to go by, LIC would exceed the target with ease. Mehrotra said that over the last two months, premium from the sale of new policies has increased by about 40 per cent. According to the latest Irda data, LIC’s first premium income went up by 69.33 per cent to Rs 2,113.11 crore during April, as against a 10 per cent fall during the last financial year.
Also read:
May 20: LIC plans to invest Rs 50,000 cr in equity
http://www.business-standard.com/358659/
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