Last fiscal ended on a good note for the life insurance industry. Life Insurance Council data shows that the total assets under management (AUM) of the life insurance industry went up by 19% from Rs.25.02 lakh crore in FY 2015-16 to Rs.29.80 lakh crore in FY 2016-17.
Industry officials believe the rally in equity markets coupled with healthy premium collection has accelerated the growth in AUM in the life insurance industry.
All three categories of life insurance business - traditional policies, pension and ULIPs have witnessed healthy growth last fiscal. Thanks to the demonetisation, many people have invested in insurance to park their money and save taxes.
The council data shows that investment in equity through ULIPs went up by 27% to reach Rs.7.50 lakh crore in FY 2016-17 as against Rs. 5.85 crore in the preceding financial year. Industry officials also said that many investors have lapped up ULIP last fiscal due to attractive performance of such schemes over the past few years.
The life insurance industry has been gaining continuous momentum. IRDAI’s latest data shows that life insurers’ new business premium rose by 26% and crossed Rs1.75 lakh crore in FY 2016-2017 while the total net profit of industry grew from Rs. 7,408 crore in FY 2015-16 to Rs. 7,707 crore in FY 2016-17.