Economic slowdown affects ICICI Prudential Life sales

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co has seen a drop in sales as a fallout of the economic slowdown, Senior Vice-President and Head of Sales Rishi Srrivastava said here On Monday.

“We cannot deny that sales have gone down due to the global slowdown. There is some slowdown,” Srrivastava said on the sidelines of a product launch in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

In September, the company’s sales stood at Rs 6,726 crore , up 56 per cent year on year.

He said demand growth for market-linked schemes has come down marginally to 85-90 per cent compared with around 90 per cent last year.

However, he said the company’s projects in the pipeline are unlikely to be affected, and the company is aggressively looking to launch new products. “The company is countering the impact of the slowdown by launching new products in various categories,” Srrivastava said.

He also said the company is unlikely to adopt any cost-cutting measures, and the capital expenditure plans are on track.

Commenting on the Insurance Bill that seeks hike in foreign direct investment, Srrivastava said the step would help the capital-intensive insurance sector to fare better in the long term. The bill seeks to raise foreign direct investment cap in insurance to 49 per cent from the present 26 per cent. However, the 26 per cent FDI cap will remain for insurance cooperative societies. The amendments will also allow foreign reinsurance companies to set up branches in India.

Plan for tea plantation workers
Meanwhile, ICICI Prudential Life On Monday launched an insurance solution designed to help tea plantation workers meet their savings and protection needs. A unit-linked endowment product, ‘Anmol Nivesh’ would be available with an annual premium of as low as Rs 1,200 for a sum assured of Rs 6,000, ICICI Prudential Life Senior Vice President Rishi Srivastava said while announcing that it has partnered with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for the product, which is intended to cater to over 12 lakh tea plantation workers.