Birla Sun Life Insurance brings down FMC for existing customers

Aimed at providing equal benefits to both existing as well as new customers; Complies with IRDA guideline to cap FMC at 1.35%.

Birla Sun Life Insurance (BSLI), one of India’s leading life insurance player, a part of the Aditya Birla Financial Services Group, announced reduction in its Fund Management Charges (FMC) for its existing as well as its new customers, on all its pure equity funds today.

This move is further to complying with the IRDA guideline of capping FMC at 1.35% by all life insurance players for all the fund offerings underlying the unit linked products offered by them. BSLI, as prescribed by IRDA has not only revised the FMC for all its new funds at a maximum limit of 1.35% but has also decided to reduce the FMC on all its existing pure equity funds to 1.35% to pass on higher returns to its existing customers.

Commenting on the development, Mr. Mayank Bathwal, Chief Financial Officer, Birla Sun Life Insurance, said, “While reduction in FMC will be seen as a welcome move resulting into higher returns to our new and prospective customers, we are keen to pass on equal benefits to our existing customers as well. Considering that our fund management team, will provide equal focus in managing funds for both our existing and new customers, it is only fair for us to pass on equal benefits to both”. He further adds “Customer Centricity has always been our core value and is reflective in not just our innovative product and service offerings that have led the industry from time to time but also in our fair and transparent approach in dealing with customers. This is our way of expressing our gratitude to our customers for believing in us and helping us grow to the position of a top 5-industry player, today. We hope that this move will benefit them and help them grow their investments with us ”

About Birla Sun Life Insurance
Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited (BSLI) is a joint venture between the Aditya Birla Group, a well known Indian conglomerates and Sun Life Financial Inc, leading international financial services organization from Canada. With an experience of over 9 years, BSLI has contributed significantly to the growth and development of the Indian Life Insurance industry and currently is on of the leading life insurance companies in the country. Enjoying trust of its over 2 Million customers, BSLI is known for innovation. It was the first Indian Insurance Company to introduce “Free Look Period” and Benefit illustrations, which were subsequently made mandatory by IRDA for the industry. BSLI offers a complete range of pension, health and life insurance products and has an extensive reach in over 1500 markets through its network of 651 branches and 1,58,429 empanelled advisors. This is well supported by the sound financial that the Company has. The AUM of Birla Sun Life Insurance surpassed Rs. 11,670 crs and it has a robust capital base of over Rs. 2000 crs as on June 30, 2009.For more information, please visit www.birlasunlife.com

About Aditya Birla Group
A US $28 billion corporation, the Aditya Birla Group is in the league of Fortune 500 worldwide. It is anchored by an extraordinary force of 100,000 employees, belonging to 25 different nationalities. The group operates in 25 countries across six continents – truly India's first multinational corporation.

Aditya Birla Group through Aditya Birla Financial Services Group (ABFSG), has a strong presence across various financial services verticals that include life insurance, fund management, distribution & wealth management, security based lending, insurance broking, private equity and retail broking. In FY 2008-09, the consolidated revenues of ABFSG from these businesses crossed Rs. 4763 crs, registering a growth rate of 36%.For more information please visit www.adityabirla.com

About Sun Life Financial Inc.
Sun Life Financial is a leading international financial services organization providing a diverse range of protection and wealth accumulation products and services to individuals and corporate customers.Chartered in 1865, Sun Life Financial and its partners today have operations in key markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China and Bermuda. As of March 31, 2009, the Sun Life Financial group of companies had total assets under management of $375 billion.

For more information please visit www.sunlife.com