Deferred pension plans, applying for visa: Top personal finance stories

This week we write about the advantages and drawbacks of annuity plans and how to work on your visa application

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) now allows partial withdrawals from deferred pension plans for specific needs, capped at 25 per cent of total premiums paid. This aims to make annuity plans more attractive by providing a safety net for significant life events. In this week’s lead story, Sanjay Kumar Singh and Karthik Jerome explain the advantages and potential drawbacks of these plans as an instrument for retirement planning.

The second article, by Namrata Kohli, emphasises the importance of early visa planning due to the high demand from India for Schengen visas. It addresses common issues like lengthy processing times, extensive documentation, and high rejection rates.

If you are looking to reduce the risk in your equity portfolio after the recent run-up in mid and smallcap funds, rebalance it towards largecap funds. Those searching for a fund from this category should look up Morningstar’s review of HDFC Top 100 Fund.

If you are planning to buy a health insurance cover and want to compare features and premiums of the major providers, look up Policybazaar.com’s table.

NUMBER OF THE WEEK

52.8 per cent: Share of retail investors in equity mutual funds’ AUM

The share of retail investors in the total assets under management (AUM) of equity mutual funds (MFs) has dipped 2.2 percentage points from 55 per cent (FY21) to 52.8 per cent in FY24. In absolute terms, the AUM has surged from Rs 5.5 trillion to Rs 12.4 trillion.

In the same period, the share of high net-worth (HNI) investors has increased from 35.5 per cent to 38.3 per cent, with their AUM increasing from Rs 3.6 trillion to Rs 9 trillion. According to the industry association, any mutual fund investment account, which receives over Rs 200,000 in a single instalment is considered an HNI account.

Systematic investment plans (SIPs) have shown consistent growth in the past three years. The monthly gross SIP inflows have more than doubled since March 2021 to nearly Rs 21,000 crore in May 2024.

Rising retail flows in absolute terms (including through SIPs) have made the Indian equity market less dependent on foreign institutional investors and reduced its volatility.