IRDA permits Reliance Capital to sell stake in Reliance Life Insurance

Reliance Capital has obtained in-principle authorization from insurance regulatory body-IRDA for its planned stake sale in Reliance Life Insurance. Reliance Life Insurance is one of India’s largest private Life Insuring Company.

Reliance Capital had signed a definitive agreement with Japan’s Nippon Life to sell 26% stake in Reliance Life in the early part of this year, subject to IRDA authorization. IRDA would grant final approval on receipt of RBI approval.

According to the agreement, Nippon Life will invest a total of Rs. 3,062 crore to get hold of a 26 percent strategic stake in Reliance Life. Nippon Life insurance is the seventh largest life insuring company in the world and the number one private life insurer in Japan and Asia.

Reliance Life Insurance is a subsidiary of Reliance Capital. It started its operations in year 2005 and today is one of the biggest insuring companies in India.

Mahindra Satyam ties up with insurance solution provider iPipeline

Indian IT services provider, Mahindra Satyam has tied-up with US based ‘iPipeline’, a company offering selling, processing and marketing solutions to the insurance, banking and financial services. 

The role of Mahindra Satyam in this partnership will be providing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) for fiscal services to the financial and banking customers in India, West Asian and the Asia Pacific markets. iPipeline has partnered with Mahindra Satyam with a view to capture business opportunities in the insurance and financial services markets in Asia. 

On the occasion, Mr Andrea Evans of iPipeline, said,” This partnership with Mahindra Satyam gives us an excellent opportunity to extend the deployment of our CRM for financial services solution to a broad range of banks and financial services companies.” 

Rohit Gandhi, Senior Vice-President - APAC, India, MEA, Mahindra Satyam, said, “ Mahindra Satyam has a strong focus in the banking and financial services sector, and “we plan to actively position iPipeline CRM for Financial Services to our customers and prospects in Asia, especially those focusing on wealth management.”

InsuringIndia.com: the best place to compare insurance policies online

InsuringIndia.com is India’s first multilingual insurance comparison website. The website allows comparison of insurance policies of different insurance companies in all fields such as health, life, motor, travel, art, etc. in ten main Indian languages.

The users can compare insurance quotes of various insurance companies in a very easy way and without any confusion. It is a common phenomenon in online insurance comparison sites, that user gets confused easily; there are no clear-cut instructions, and it become tough for users to compare insurance policies.

At InsuringIndia.com, the user gets free insurance quotes of all insurance companies. The user has to fill basic information and at one click can compare insurance policies easily. The company has also started a new initiative of providing a policy management module ‘Manage My Policy’ in which the user has just to register and fill the details to get timely reminders.

South African based insurer Sanlam to buy 26 per cent in Shriram Capital

South African-based insuring company Sanlam Ltd. is all set to purchase 26% in Shriram Group’s Shriram Capital Ltd (SCL). The deal is estimated to be around Rs. 2,000 crore.

As per industry sources, about Rs. 1,200 crore will be in the cash form, and the remaining amount will be in the form of investment in the insurance business.

Shriram Group and Sanlam Ltd. went into partnership five years back to set up Shriram Life Insurance Company Ltd. As per IRDA regulations, 26% stake was acquired by Sanlam. The group also launched a non-life insurance company, Shriram General Insurance Ltd in which Sanlam again has 26% stake.

The SCL is planning to expand the insurance business with this investment and will also be utilized for expanding other finance businesses.

Federal Bank launches unique insurance scheme for its NRI customers

Federal Bank has brought a distinct insurance product for its new NRI customers by the name of “Fed Oriental Pravasi Insurance”, in association with Oriental Insurance Company. 

The insurance scheme is customized to primarily cover hospitalization expenses of NRI customers. It provides cash-less treatment facility at more than 3000 hospitals all across India and covers unexpected contingencies like accidents and repatriation. 

The scheme is applicable to all new NRI customers having a minimum balance of Rs. 5000 in their account. Medical cover of Rs. 10 lakh is available for whole family in the event of death or disability of the insured person. The policy also provides an economy class airfare for a dependent in case of an accident or airlifting along with the patient. 

Treatment abroad in accredited hospitals for an amount up to Rs. 75000 per year is also covered under the scheme.

Federal Bank is listed on BSE, London Stock Exchange and NSE. It is one of the leading private sector banks in India. It is the 4th largest bank in India in terms of capital base.

Public–private partnership model only way for a secured pension

World’s second largest reinsurer Swiss Re has indicated that for creating a long-term retirement provision, both private and public bodies have to work together to address the broader issue of a sustainable pension infrastructure. 

India is making efforts to set up a detailed social security plan by permitting new players in the pension and insurance field. Increase in life expectancy in India in recent times has caused difficulties in funding for insurers. 

Swiss Re report said that advanced models furnish improved figures of future longevity and will bring in vital changes in the overall result, which ought to be driven by private and public bodies working in concert. Insurers and employers ought to work unitedly to attain a lasting sustainable infrastructure.

LIC to offer up to six per cent annual return on Pension Plus

Life Insurance Corporation of India is ready to offer 6% annual return on its unit-linked pension product “Pension Plus”.

The unit-linked pension product-‘Pension Plus’ is thus far the only regular premium unit-linked pension plan based on IRDA guidelines prescribing to a minimum guaranteed return of 4.5%.

This move arrives at a time when the IRDA has been pushed to draw back the disputable 4.5% guaranteed return section following opposition from private life insuring companies, who indicated that such returns were not viable.

Furthermore, LIC is likely to continue with the existing scheme, even if the pension rules are revised in the coming months. The product ‘Pension Plus’ was launched in September 2010, and collected a premium of approximately Rs. 400 crore.

IRDA is now planning to drop the ‘guaranteed return clause’ in pension product norms, as private life insuring companies are refusing to launch any pension products.