I-T Dept moves Bombay HC against tribunal's order in favour of LIC in Rs 4,993 crore tax disputes
The Income Tax (I-T) Department has moved the Bombay High Court to challenge an appellate tribunal order in favour of the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) in two major tax dispute cases involving a cumulative amount of Rs 4,993 crore.

Fin Min meets chiefs of private sector general insurers
The finance ministry held a meeting on Tuesday with the General Insurance Council and chiefs of private sector general insurance companies.

ICICI Prudential Life Q2 profit rises 23% to Rs 244 crore
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company on Tuesday reported a 23 percent increase in its net profit at Rs 244 crore in the quarter ended in September 2023 despite lower income.

‘Focusing on the middle-income segment now’, says Shriram Life Insurance CEO
Considering Shriram Life Insurance’s focus is on the middle-income segment with lower ticket sizes, growing individual regular premium polices would be its main line, says MD & CEO Casparus Kromhout. In an interview with Mithun Dasgupta, Kromhout says the insurer hopes to have an annualised premium equivalent (APE) growth similar or higher for FY24 as compared to FY23.

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ICICI Pru Life H1 PAT up 27% on strong investment income, retail business growth
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance’s net profit rose 27 per cent yoy to ₹451 crore in H1 FY24 on the back of strong growth in investment income, and retail protection and savings products.

Encourage healthcare and disaster cover, Finance Ministry tells insurers
The Finance Ministry on Tuesday asked general insurance firms to increase cashless facilities for health insurance users and standardise treatment costs in tandem with the Union Ministry of Health to expand medical care covers in the country. 

Customisation key to affordability and penetration for insurance coverage: Zopper COO
Source Credit: Anjali Jain, Deccan Herald

Sebi’s centralised system will make life easier for nominees
Thirty-seven-year-old Manish Sharma (name and professional details changed), an IT professional in Mumbai, lost his father nearly eight years ago due to a disease. When Sharma started going through his investments, he realised that the process was not just tedious but there were hurdles galore. The added burden: His father had not named any nominee.

SEBI, RBI investigating some alternate investment funds: Sources
India's markets regulator and its central bank are investigating about a dozen cases of alternate investment funds (AIFs) allegedly being used to circumvent regulations, including "evergreening" of stressed loans, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

Mutual funds seek SEBI support for dedicated REITs/InvITs schemes
Mumbai: Mutual funds have held talks with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to introduce a dedicated category for real estate investment trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs), said two people in the know.

Mirae Asset Financial Services will now provide loans against tax-saver ELSS funds sans lock-in
Loan against Mutual Funds: Expanding the ambit of mutual fund units as collateral for retail investors, Mirae Asset Financial Services, a non-banking finance company, has added eligible tax saver schemes free from lock-in period from all the asset management companies in its list of approved mutual fund schemes to offer overdraft facilities by pledging these units.

Mutual fund SIP account addition reaches record 3.7 million in September

The gross account registration in the systematic investment plan (SIP) category of mutual funds reached a record 3.7 million in September 2023, the data from AMFI shows. The new account opening remained above three million for the third month in a row despite higher volatility in the stock market taking the total SIP tally to 71.3 million, the highest total. The SIP route serves as an important plank for driving domestic inflows

WhiteOak Capital Balanced Hybrid Fund efficient on exposure, tax

Investors looking to put money in a relatively tax-efficient mutual fund product with exposure to both equity and debt could consider an allocation to the new fund offer (NFO) of WhiteOak Capital Balanced Hybrid Fund. This is only the second scheme in the balanced hybrid fund category after 360 One Asset launched a similar product recently.

ELSS funds offer 14.63% average return in 2023; Aditya Birla SL ELSS Tax Relief 96 give 9.29%

ELSS funds or tax saving mutual fund category have offered an average return of 14.63% in 2023 so far, an analysis of performance showed. There were 38 actively-managed ELSS schemes, and 27 schemes managed to beat their respective benchmarks in 2023. Only 11 schemes failed to beat their benchmarks.

JPMorgan index-bound Indian bonds lure foreigners, but large flows to start later
Source Credit: Reuters, The Economic Times