Do you expect to see any change in product preference of customers in 2016? Our experience over the past few years has been that customers want low cost products which fulfil their core protection needs before they look at at savings and investments. By core protection I mean risks of dying early, health and living well beyond earning years. So the trend towards greater sales of term plans, health plans and annuity plans is likely to continue. On the savings and investment side, customers' product preference tends to be a function of needs and risk appetite. So we see customers with a greater appetite to absorb risks saving with Ulips, while those with a lower risk appetite and preferring assurance rather than yield select traditional plans.
In this volatile equity market, are customers choosing traditional policies over Ulips? We have not seen any such trend so far. There are customers who can live with volatility and are customers who can live with volatility and are looking at this as a good entry point into Ulips. So it fully depends on the time horizon, saving needs and risk appetite of the customer.
