India drops from top three in Million Dollar Round Table

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India has dropped from the second position in the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) in 2014 to fifth position in 2015. The country's largest insurance company Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) sends the maximum number of agents to MDRT.

Founded in 1927, MDRT is the premier international association of finance professionals that has representation from more than 450 companies. Today, MDRT is a thriving association of over 40,000 members representing 76 nations and territories. Apart from the basic membership, MDRT has two levels--Court of Table (COT) and Top of Table (TOT). MDRT’s Top of the Table is an exclusive forum for the world’s most successful life insurance and financial services professionals.

LIC had 3,503 individuals as MDRT in 2015 compared to 6,749 in 2014. In 2014, LIC had occupied the top spot in the league among multinational companies across the globe. In 2015, AIA Group, Hong Kong, occupied the top spot among companies with 3,853 individuals as part of MDRT.

Overall, India had 4,150 representatives to MDRT in 2015 as compared to 7,376 representatives in 2014. Similar to 2014, in 2015 too United States took the top position among countries with 9,996 MDRT  members followed by China with 5,380.

Membership to MDRT is based on agent productivity and includes criteria for commissions and premium. For COT and TOT, the criteria are even tougher with significantly higher commissions and premiums being required to qualify.

Qualifications for 2015 membership based on 2014 production was $92,000 (Rs 56.14 lakh approximately) of eligible commission, $184,000 (Rs 1.12 crore approximately) of eligible premium or $158,000 (Rs 96.42 lakh approximately) income.

For COT, it was $ 276,000 (Rs 1.68 crore approximately) commission, $552,000 (Rs 3.36 crore approximately) premium or $474,000 (Rs 2.89 crore approximately) income. For TOT, eligibility was $552,000 (Rs 3.36 crore approximately) commission, $1,104,000 (Rs 6.73 crore approximately) premium or $ 948,000  (Rs 5.78 crore approximately) income.  

Overall, premium collection was impacted for several insurers from 2014 onwards in India since new product guidelines for traditional life insurance products was introduced from January 1, 2014.

This had lead to all products in the industry being re-filed and insurers including LIC had very few products to sell. Insurance sector experts said that this was the main reason why number of MDRT agents from India saw a drop. LIC did not respond to a query send by Business Standard.

MDRT members get access to meetings, networking opportunities and international training and development. Through its many professional development programs, services and products, MDRT provides opportunities for members to gain insights into all aspects of expanding their business, leading to even greater success.

Members also get access to a combination of tangible and intangible resources, face-to-face interactions and round-the-clock access to the ideas members are using every day to boost their productivity.

The knowledge and expertise harnessed within MDRT spans the full spectrum of financial services, including life insurance, investments, retirement planning and wealth management among others.

For 2016 qualification based on 2015 production, it is $ 93,000 (Rs 59.66 lakh approximately) of eligible commission, $ 186,000 (Rs 1.19 crore approximately) of eligible premium or $ 160,000 (Rs 1.02 crore approximately) income. COT and TOT serve as additional incentives for members to increase their levels of production, leading to additional recognition and access to exclusive benefits.