Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Limited, the private life insurance joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and AXA, world leader in financial protection, today announced the launch of an innovative premium guarantee product - ‘Guarantee Builder’.
Speaking at the launch, Mr Nitin Chopra, CEO, Bharti AXA Life said, “The launch of Guarantee Builder is in line with our objective to provide best-in-class products to suit the needs of different customer profiles. While our other ULIPs partner with customers in their financial planning for long-term needs, our premium guarantee product addresses the needs of those traditional and new investors who are wary of market volatility - as is the case currently - but would still like to participate in the Indian growth story.
As the name suggests, Guarantee Builder provides the perfect balance of growth and protection. Aligned to our focus on providing innovation that is packaged for long-term customer benefit, Guarantee Builder is also not just a premium guarantee product. It provides customers the benefit of increasing Guaranteed Maturity Value (GMV), which is a first-of-its-kind benefit offered to Indian customers.”
GMV is the sum of the investment premiums payable over the term of the policy. Guarantee Builder provides customers the comfort of the GMV increasing by 1% each year till it reaches 115% of GMV at maturity (if the Reference Rate* is at least 3.5% for each financial year).
Mr Shyamal Saxena, Chief Distribution and Marketing Officer of Bharti AXA Life said, “At maturity, the customer gets the fund value or 115% of the GMV, whichever is higher. Thus, the customer is not just insulated from the impact of the market fall, but is also provided an opportunity to enjoy the benefits of long-term investing with a higher GMV.”
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In addition, the new Guarantee Fund, Build n Protect provides customers the option to remain invested in equity up to 40% over the long-term. In the event of the customer wanting to shift to larger equity allocation, Guarantee Builder provides the flexibility to move out of the guarantee by switching out of Build n Protect Fund and investing in non-guaranteed funds.
“Such flexibility in product design allows the policyholder to manage investments effectively in any market condition. This, we believe, provides customers the confidence to manage a financial crisis situation, while allowing them to shift to high yield funds in a stable market environment.
Another significant flexibility for customers is the policy reinstatement facility, which provides customers the assurance of not foregoing the Guarantee even if premium payments have been missed inadvertently,” Mr. Saxena adds. The GMV has a reinstatement period of 2 years from lapse, provided all due premiums are paid along with interest.
The special addition of 2.5% of average policy fund value at the end of the 10th and 15th year respectively provides customers the benefit of wealth creation over the long-term. The protection is comprehensive as Guarantee Builder provides Death Benefit of Sum Assured PLUS Fund Value, with Sum Assured being ten times the annual investment premium.
*Reference Rate = Interest Rate (Yield) on the 10 year Government of India Bond declared by RBI on 31st March every financial year.
Bharti Enterprises
Bharti Enterprises is one of India’s leading business groups with interests in telecom, agri business, financial services, retail and manufacturing. Bharti has been a pioneering force in the telecom sector with many firsts and innovations to its credit. Bharti Airtel, a group company, is one of Asia’s leading providers of telecommunications services with operations in India and Sri Lanka spanning Mobile services, Telemedia services and Enterprise services. Bharti Airtel has been voted as India's most innovative company, in a survey conducted by The Wall Street Journal. Bharti Teletech is the country’s largest manufacturer and exporter of telephone terminals. Bharti has a joint venture – Bharti Del Monte (formerly FieldFresh Foods) – with Del Monte Foods India, to offer fresh and processed fruits and vegetables in the domestic as well as international markets. Bharti has joint ventures with AXA, world leader in financial protection and wealth management, for Life Insurance, General Insurance and Asset Management. Bharti has retail business under a company called Bharti Retail. It also has a joint venture - Bharti Wal-Mart - with Wal-Mart for wholesale cash-and-carry and back-end supply chain management operations in India.
AXA GROUP (AXA SA)
Since the AXA name was created in 1985, the Group's growing international presence and wide range of quality products and services have established AXA as one of the few successful global brands in the financial services industry. AXA's strategic focus is global, aimed at developing a single worldwide brand, being powerful in every one of its markets and developing synergies across the Group. The AXA Group is committed to international expansion and sees commitment to the Asia-Pacific Region as offering many opportunities for future growth. As of 31 December 2008, AXA had over 80 million clients worldwide, 135,000 employees, 91.2 billion Euros in consolidated revenues, 816 billion Euros in assets under management, and 4,044 million Euros in underlying earnings.
Headquartered in Paris and active across all five continents in 55 countries, AXA is focused on the world's major markets, in particular Europe, North America and selected countries in Asia Pacific. A global leader in Financial Protection, the Group supports its clients, both individuals and businesses, at every stage in their lives by providing products and services to meet their needs, including insurance, personal protection, savings and estate planning.
AXA is listed on most of the world's major stock markets. A number of Group companies are also listed in their local markets: Australia, London, Paris, Frankfurt and New York. The Group enjoys AA-range ratings with the three leading global rating agencies. AXA was also ranked 15th in 2008’s FORTUNE GLOBAL 500 survey of “The World’s Largest Corporations”, and ranked top under the category “Insurance: Life, health (stock)”. AXA was ranked no. 55 in Interbrand’s list of “Top Global Brands” in the Business Week magazine published in September 2008.
About AXA Asia Life and AXA Asia Pacific Holdings
AXA Asia Life is part of AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Limited, and has operations in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, India and China serving approximately 2.5 million customers.
AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and is approximately 53 percent owned by AXA SA. In 2008 AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Limited reported a 2 percent increase in operating earnings at A$555.6 million and ended 2008 with assets of A$779 million in excess of the regulatory requirements.
AXA is committed to become the preferred company in financial protection and wealth management by 2012. It is available, attentive and reliable to the needs of AXA customers.
For more information on AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd, visit: www.axa-asiapacific.com.au
