Despite the slowdown in the life insurance industry, state-run insurer Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) expects to invest Rs 45,000 crore in the stock markets in the fiscal year ending March 2012, said acting chairman Mr D.K. Mehrotra.
LIC, which is a major investor in India's capital markets, has already invested Rs 25,000 crore between April to November 2011.
LIC invested about Rs 43,000 crore in equities last fiscal.
“Our total investment (including debt) last year was Rs 1.95 lakh crore. We will maintain that despite the slowdown in the life insurance industry. We have continued to pick up some good scrips this year as well,” said Mr Mehrotra. After the regulatory changes in unit-linked insurance products in September 2010, sales of the unit-linked products have dropped.
LIC, which has 76 per cent market share in the life insurance industry, has seen its business mix of ULIP sales drop to 30 per cent of its product portfolio.
During the April-November period, premium collection by LIC fell 17.57 per cent to Rs 45,758 crore. Experts fear the growth of the life insurance industry is likely to remain subdued over the next six to 12 months.
The fourth quarter of the fiscal is the busy season for the life insurance industry with about 40 per cent of the sales done now.