LIC to look at long-term investment instruments

NEW DELHI: State-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is engaging with key financial regulators, including RBI and Sebi, to expand the availability of long-term investment instruments as inflows into its annuity products keep on rising, CEO and MD R Doraiswamy said.

An annuity product converts an accumulated retirement corpus into a guaranteed, lifelong stream of income. When one invests a lump sum, LIC pays a regular pension for life, ensuring the savings aren’t outlived.

“When the annuity markets are becoming more favoured by the policyholders, and more investments flow into annuities, we need to necessarily have long-term investments matching those long-term liabilities. So we have been in touch with the (insurance) regulator as well as the regulators like Sebi, as well as RBI and the requirements of LIC, particularly, are being duly communicated to them,” he said.

He said the sector regulator Irdai has also been taking proactive steps in ensuring that the evolving needs of the market are also fully met by the insurance company.

“Given the fact that insurance companies generate long-term funds, they go on to meet the long-term financing requirements in terms of infrastructure needs and nation-building. The regulations are also getting aligned with the requirements. So, it is a win-win situation for both of us. We keep working together.”

LIC has a substantial portfolio of annuity business, which is very long-tailed with liabilities running into 30, 40, 50 years. So, the investment of funds is based on the underlying business and the underlying fund.

Asked if LIC could sustain a high net Value of New Business (VNB) margin of over 20% in FY27 as well, Doraiswamy said, the effort that the corporation is taking is to see VNB margin, or the gross VNB, as well as performance in almost all parameters, keep improving.