February 15, 2010
I use to ask this question to me & most often the answer I got was NO. Probably, because I am too optimistic about my life. Then, I realized that any mishap is not going to inform me before coming, if something really happens, then what will happen to my responsibilities. Who is going to take care of my family?
February 15, 2010
In the current scenario, when interest rates are soaring high & inflation is in double digits, credit card issuers are taking extra care while issuing credit card. Recently, world has witnessed the worst credit crisis. Defaults were among one of the prime reason behind collapse of the financial institution in US. This has made bankers to think many times before lending money, in any form. We use home loans, car loans, two wheeler loan, education loans & unsecured credit cards & personal loans. Credit card is one of the most common forms of lending money.
February 15, 2010
In India, where the market for private sector was opened ten years in back in 1999, most of the private insurance companies are still in loss and are waiting for break up. Last year’s recession made the ride a bit more difficult for them but this years April-Sep results tells a different story. Companies like SBI, Bajaj Allianz posted net profit where as companies like reliance life insurance showed reduction in losses. Companies have gained from the appreciation in values of their investment and reorganizing their business model like cost cutting and slowing down in expansion. Decline in new business also helped as it reduce their cost of doing business as they have to set aside the cost of underwriting.
February 15, 2010
Life Insurance Companies in India are trying very hard to maintain profit and consequently, Break even. Ten years ago, a survey has predicted that life insurance industry will grow at rate of (CAGR) of 18.9 per cent. The actual growth has been much faster than anticipated and sector has grown at rate of (CAGR) 25.16 per cent. From the annual premium collection of Rs 21,581 crore in 1998-99, the sector has grown to Rs 2,21,688 crore last year.
February 15, 2010
The credit information contains information about the borrower’s name, address, PAN, Passport number, voter’s ID and date of birth. It has record of all credit line that individual has availed like credit cards, loan etc, along with past payment history, overdue amount and other information like status of any suite or defaults. This score is regularly updated and if someone is having a bad score it doesn’t mean that it can’t be changed. In today’ world, when we have to depend a lot upon credit for various needs like credit cards, Personal loans, auto loans or Home loans, it is very important not only to maintain a good score, but also knowing own score.
February 15, 2010
The insurance and regulatory authority of India is thinking to allow life insurance companies to invest in equity derivatives. Equity derivatives are a category of financial instruments. Their value is derived from partly from one or more underlying equity derivatives. Traders invest in equity derivatives to hedge their risk which they acquire due to exposure to the equity market. Options are the most common form of equity derivatives being traded in today’s market. The matter is under consideration and the guidelines for the matter have not been finalized yet. Currently insurance companies are allowed to invest 50 percent of their funds in government securities, 15 percent in infrastructure related projects, and the remaining 35 percent in non-approved instruments for traditional policies.
February 15, 2010
This year has seen a lot of upsurge in stock market. If last year was a year of great fall, sorrow and depression, this year has seen the confidence coming back to streets. Things might be looking in a good shape, but we need to ask one question, ‘Are they really in good shape?’ because something, as devastating as recession, cannot be healed in few months. It’s a process which should take more time than it has, so we need to be more vigilant while looking for truth. The global economical situation has stabilized but still remains delicate. USA registered a positive GDP for quarter end September but analyst are not sure whether it’s temporary change or sign of recovery. In India, things have been quite different from west, recession has not been here at such a large scale but country has witnessed a slowdown in its economical growth. There has been a complete turnaround in last six months or so.
February 15, 2010
This might be the message to the people who have taken insurance for their domestic losses. Consumer may have to bear higher loss when they take any insurance policy for their losses. Insurance regulatory and development authority have given permission to domestic insurance companies to fix their compulsory deductibles. Compulsory deductibles are the amount which a insurer reduces from the claim amount. This means that consumer would bear that amount of loss. Till 2007, these deductibles were prescribed by the regulators. Though, after free pricing, premiums went down because of the competition, the deductible remains same.
February 15, 2010
The Indian life insurance sector has seen robust growth for last 8-10 year. That is the primary reason why industry has seen so many new entrants and still so many applications with the regulator. The large portion of Indian population is insurable, but still the insurance penetration is very low and it provides a huge opportunity to increase their business. The Indian life insurance is expected to grow by about 15 percent in the current financial year. The industry is expected to make approximately Rs 2,55,000 crore for this financial year. Recently life insurance council Secretary General S B Mathur said that ‘Despite the slowdown in the economy, Life insurance industry has continued to grow as policyholders are realizing the value of insurance. We continue to be optimistic about the insurance business in India and expect the industry to grow approximately at 15 percent.’
February 15, 2010
Aquaculture in India has growth very rapidly in last two decades. The fresh water aquaculture accounts for nearly 95 percent of the total aquaculture. The production involves carp in fresh water and shrimps in brackish water. The technologies of induced carp breeding and poly culture in static ponds have given a big boost to business. This has attracted a lot of farmers and small scale businessmen towards this business. This requires investment and sometime it may not yield desired returns or complete loss of that. There are insurance policies for aquaculture. It is currently 4.5 percent and 7.5 percent of the sum assured.
February 15, 2010
Recently, there was a change in the way mutual funds were being sold in India. Entry load has been removed now which means the entire amount a investor invest in a fund is reflected in the statement. It doesn’t sound big, but this move of removing entry load has completely changed the mutual fund industry in India. Mutual funds were mainly sold by the small financial advisors and brokers, who were getting commission from mutual fund houses. This commission was being derived from this entry load. Now, as there is no entry load, it has impacted the entire mutual fund industry. Mutual fund houses use to charge around 2.25 percent of the invested amount as entry load and companies use to pay commission from this 2.25 percent, sometimes a fraction of this and sometimes, the entire 2.25 percent.
February 15, 2010
Today we live in a material world. Our needs have grown many folds. Expenses are high and income is often not enough to contain it. To manage our financial need, we use many financial instruments. Investment in equity, mutual fund and life insurance are probably the most commonly used such instruments. Savings do take long time to accumulate therefore we can’t use them in near term to fulfill our need like buying cars and home. For acquiring these assets we generally opt for home and car loan. There are certain situations where we neither have to buy a car or home but we need cash. But we are always not ready for any kind of urgency or just another big shopping. There are secured and unsecured loans for these kinds of situations.
February 15, 2010
Medical treatment bills can give us more pain than medical disorders. Medical treatments are very expensive nowadays and sometime end up sucking our entire savings. Precautions are better than worry so it’s better to insure ourselves against these kinds of adversity than worrying about them. The best option in current world is to go for a health insurance or medical insurance policy. Health insurance has come a long way in India. People far more aware about these policies and more and more people are opting for these policies. Government has done quite well in recent past to promote these things. Insurance companies are offering a lot of new and innovative product these days.