Irdai sets up panel to increase banks' participation in selling insurance products
New Delhi: Regulator Irdai has set up a high-level panel to suggest steps to increase the participation of banks for easy availability of insurance products across the country. Despite the large network of banks through their branches across the length and breadth of the country, the contribution of the lenders as corporate agents was 5.93 per cent of non-life premiums and 17.44 per cent of new business premiums for life insurance in 2022-23.

Jhunjhunwala stock from insurance space falls over 5% post Q2 results

Late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-owned stock Star Health and Allied Insurance Company fell over 5% to Rs 550 in Wednesday's trade on BSE after the firm reported lower-than-estimated earnings for the September quarter.

IRDAI constitutes taskforce to review existing Bancassurance framework
"Despite the large network of banks through their branches across the length and breadth of the country, the contribution of banks as corporate agents was 5.93 per cent of non-life premium and 17.44 per cent of new business premium for life insurance in the financial year 2022-23," Irdai said in its circular. Further, despite having the option to set up a separate legal entity which will ensure the distribution of insurance products as insurance brokers, banks have not exercised this option.
 

LIC scheme: Invest Rs 87 per day and get Rs 11 lakh at maturity, here's how
LIC Aadhaar Shila Plan: Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), a prominent insurance provider, offers a diverse range of life insurance policies to cater to various financial goals. The LIC Aadhaar Shila Plan is a unique offering designed especially for women. This non-linked individual life insurance scheme ensures a fixed payout upon maturity, providing financial support to the insured person's family in case of untimely demise.

Health insurance claim-settlement time, coverage, key details to be available in single, easy-to-understand document from January 1, 2024

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has asked insurers to provide updated customer information sheets (CIS) for health insurance policies highlighting all key policy details in simple terms from January 1, 2024. From type of policy to coverage details to waiting period to limit and sub-limits to exclusions to free-look period to portability to guidance on procedure for claims submission and contact details for filing complaints will be available "in simple language in a snapshot" in the customer information sheet, the insurance regulator said in a press release on October 30, 2023.

Sebi embarks on simplification of regulations but more needs to be done
Law must be forged on the anvil of foresight, but even the farthest foresight cannot prevent it from being laden with gaps and ambiguities that may be exploited by the unscrupulous. This is the reason why lawmakers often have to engage in the process of revamping laws. However, in the pursuit of making the laws foolproof, sometimes laws can become a tad too complicated or burdensome on those governed by them. Hence, lawmakers must regularly assess the practicability of the norms laid down and consider toning them down, wherever necessary.

Centre to launch campaign to raise awareness on use of digital life certificate for pensioners
The Centre on Thursday will launch a month-long nationwide campaign aimed at raising awareness on the use of digital life certificates among central government pensioners, according to an official statement issued on Wednesday.

National Pension System: FinMin fixes remuneration of contractual Central Govt Employees retiring under NPS
An amount equivalent to 30% of the last basic pay as drawn at the time of retirement shall be deducted from the last basic pay and the resultant amount shall be the fixed monthly amount as remuneration in case of contractual central government employees who retire under NPS.

SEBI unveils new format for MFs’ SID
SEBI has directed mutual funds to disclose scheme’s portfolio holdings including top 10 holdings by issuer and fund allocation towards various sectors through a functional web link and the aggregate investment in the scheme made by the concerned scheme’s fund managers as part of the ‘skin-in-the-game’ regulations.

MFs draw flak on social media for investment in Mamaearth IPO
Mumbai: The mutual funds that have subscribed to Mamaearth’s initial public offering are facing criticism on social media. About a third of the total allocation reserved for anchor investors were allocated to seven domestic mutual funds through 19 schemes. A few more funds may have invested in the main book. The issue has been subscribed 70 per cent on day 2, with the QIB or institutional portion seeing full subscription. There are concerns on rich valuations and wild swings post-listing.

Samir Arora’s Helios launches Flexi Cap NFO: Should you invest?
As one of the largest categories with relatively non-restrictive mandates, flexi cap funds have been quite popular with investors. Given that there are no rigid rules in market cap allocation in the portfolio, flexi caps give fund managers a fairly large universe to invest in over the long term.

Tata Capital PE plans to invest over Rs 400 cr in healthcare, senior care
Visalakshi Chandramouli, managing partner, TCHF, said the fund has already invested 60 per cent of the corpus in a range of segments in the healthcare sector, such as pharma manufacturing, cancer care, and diagnostics. This fund assesses the impact of investments made on health beneficiaries and employment generation.
 

PE/VC investments up 60% in September: EY
Private equity and venture capital (PE/VC) investments rose 60% on a YoY basis in Q32023 and touched $13.6 billion, said consulting and audit firm EY India in its latest PE newsletter.  

Bajaj Allianz Life Mid Cap Index Fund NFO Launched – Should you invest?
 

REC to raise $300-$500 million in Yen-denominated green bonds
Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) Ltd, a public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Power, plans to raise $300 million to $500 million in yen-denominated green bonds to fund its green loan portfolio, a senior company official said on Wednesday.

SBI mops up ₹10,000 cr via Basel III compliant Tier 2 Bonds
Mumbai: State Bank of India (SBI) has raised ₹10,000 crores through its first Basel III compliant Tier 2 Bonds issuance in the current fiscal  at a coupon rate of 7.81 per cent 

Adani Green working on refinancing $750 m worth bonds
Mumbai: Adani Green Energy is working on refinancing $750 million (₹6,250 crore) worth of bonds at the holding company level that are maturing in September next year. As per the terms of the bond issuance, the refinancing plan has to be submitted by early December this year. To repay the bonds at maturity, the promoters have created a liquidity pool , that “will be tapped into” at the time of maturity, Chief Executive Officer Amit Singh told in an Investor-call. The promoters led by Gautam Adani, had raised over $5billion (₹41,500 crore) between March and August this year through strategic stake-sales in group entities.

Sparkling returns for gold bond investors this Diwali
Mumbai: A potential ₹300-crore Diwali bonanza awaits investors in the first tranche of sovereign gold bonds (SGBs) that took off modestly eight years ago but have since enamoured investors with returns rivalling those of stock markets.

India's ultra-long bond debut to see strong demand, keep borrowing costs low
India's maiden sale of ultra-long bonds this week will lower borrowing costs for the government as large insurance and pension funds are expected to scoop up the issue, fund managers and analysts said.

India Exim Bank lists $1 billion sustainability bond at London Stock Exchange