Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance’s recent survey to gauge the affinity of unit linked insurance plans (ULIPs) among customers showed their gaining popularity post the Covid pandemic as stock markets remain bullish.
BusinessLine interviewed Chandramohan Mehra, Chief Marketing Officer, who led the survey, to understand the way forward for the company on this front. Excerpts :
At Bajaj Allianz Life we are seeing a growth in ULIPs on account of several reasons. First, over the past few years, we have focused on adding new-age and innovative features to our ULIPs products such as RoMC (Return of Mortality Charges), zero allocation charges and zero policy administration charges. In addition other features such as loyalty additions, flexible mode of payments, range of fund options, and robust fund management are collectively making ULIPS one of the preferred long-term instruments for customers to meet their long term-goals, and in turn driving growth. During the first quarter of this financial year, we have recorded an almost 50 per cent growth over the last year in ULIP category.
Also see: ULIPs are gaining popularity, says Bajaj Allianz Life study
What’s the current mix of your ULIPs and traditional plans?
Our product mix is well balanced across the category range including ULIP, Traditional, Term and now Annuity. The ratio of ULIP to non-ULIP is approximately is 2:3. Our product expansion strategy is driven by unmet customers need gaps. An illustration of this is our recent introduction of the annuity product Bajaj Allianz Life Guaranteed Pension Goal which is gaining significant traction amongst customers on account of several features including guaranteed life-long regular income to meet their post-retirements goals, regular premium paying option in deferred annuity, and quick issuance, as the annuity products do not require medical tests.
How are you using the survey findings for your future strategy? Is your strategy going to change basis the findings?
Through suitable training and communication efforts we plan to reinforce the benefits of ULIPs which primarily include its immense flexibility, long term investment advantage, and added life insurance protection. Additionally, we will continue to focus our efforts on further simplifying the digital experience enabling frictionless ULIP related transactions across platforms, assets and devices.
Overall, our strategy is anchored on enabling the life goals of customers, and we will continue to make relevant interventions to add value to customers’ life goals journey with us.
In a post-Covid world, What kind of products are you focusing on?
There is an increased realisation amongst customers about the range of risks life insurance products cover. Pure term as a backup for family’s life goals, annuity to cover the risk of living long and market linked insurance products and traditional products to meet long term life goals. According to the survey, life insurance has emerged as the most preferred financial product with, 2 out of 3 Indians saying that they invest or intend to invest in life insurance to achieve their long term life goals such as retirement and child education. Keeping in line with the changing consumer needs, we are constantly expanding our product portfolio to cater to their diverse protection and investment needs.