Mumbai:
Country's largest insurer Life Insurance Corporation has invested Rs 70,000 crore in equity markets till the end of the third quarter and plan to invest another Rs 10,000 crore by the end of current financial year. In the month of December and January, LIC had slowed down its equity investments as markets were at elevated levels. But with recent corrections in the markets, LIC has again started buying equities.
In the last financial year, LIC had invested Rs 47,000 crore in the equity markets. If state-run life insurer manages to invest another Rs 10,000 crore and take total investments to Rs 80,000 crore in this fiscal, than it would be increase of around 70% against previous financial year.
Addressing media on Friday, V.K Sharma, Chairman, said, “Equity investments has gone up because its continuous process, we have have the funds and we have to invest that money. We are contrarian, but our objective is just not buying and selling, but go for a long term investments. We are now handpicking good companies with a long term view and we have improved our purchasing after the recent correction.” He also added that, LIC has earned Rs 20,000 crore of profit from sales of equity investments in this financial year till December, up from Rs 16,000 in the last fiscal.''.
Sharma also stated that recent problems in state owned Punjab and National Bank (PNB) was an unfortunate event and declined to comment further on the issue. “But still as a person or a institutional head I have full faith in the bank and we are going to hold on with our investments,” added Sharma. After the crises hit PNB, the market cap of the bank eroded by Rs 8,732 crore- this translated to loss of Rs 1,217 crore to LIC. As on December 2017 LIC holds around 14 per cent in the second largest public sector lender.
The corporation's gross total income grew to Rs 3,78,599 cr, up 12.19 per cent in the nine months ended in Dec 2017 from Rs 3,37,466 cr as at the last corresponding period.The total assets of the Corporation stood at Rs 28,51,190 cr, up 17 per cent in the reporting period as compared to Rs 24,41,946 cr for the corresponding period of the last year.
It has mobilised new business premiums of Rs 99, 783.33 cr, up 19.47 per cent in the nine months ended Dec, 2017. The corporation during the reporting period has collected over Rs 2,23,854 cr of total premium income as compared to Rs 2,00,818 cr mopped up during the corresponding period last year showing a very robust growth of 11.47%
The corporation has already achieved its single premium target for the FY 2017-2018 in the first nine months of the current fiscal, said Sharma. The corporation’s Pension & Group Superannuation Business have collected Rs 62385 cr as new business premium income as against Rs 51,004 cr in the previous year corresponding period showing a growth of 22 per cent .The vertical has covered 5.96 cr lives under its Social Security Schemes.
The corporation's total policy payouts amounted to Rs 1,21,986 cr for the period ending Dec 2017 as compared to Rs 1,12,194 cr for the corresponding period last year,showing an increase of 8.73%. This includes a payout of Rs 59,671.50 cr for claims outgo covering 1,39,45,571 claimants for the nine month ended Dec 2017 as compared to Rs 55359.52 cr and 1,19,23,937 claimants in the corresponding period previous year.