Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIPs)

For the generation of insurance seekers who thrived on insurance policies with assured returns issued by a single public sector enterprise, unit-linked insurance plans are a revelation. Traditionally insurance products have been associated with attractive returns coupled with tax benefits. The returns part was often so compelling that insurance products competed with investment products for a place in the investor's portfolio. Perhaps insurance policies then were symbolic of the times when high interest rates and the absence of a rational risk-return trade-off were the norms. The subsequent softening of interest rates introduced a degree a much-needed rationality to insurance products like endowment plans; attractive returns at low risk became a thing of the past. The same period also coincided with an upturn in equity markets and the emergence of a new breed of market-linked insurance products like ULIPs. While in conventional insurance products the insurance component takes precedence over the savings component, the opposite holds true for ULIPs. More importantly ULIPs (powered by the presence of a large number of variants) offer investors the opportunity to select a product which matches their risk profile; for example an individual with a high risk appetite can shun traditional endowment plans (which invest about 85% of their funds in the debt instruments) in favour of a ULIP which invests most of its corpus in equities.

In traditional insurance products, the sum assured is the corner stone; in ULIPs premium payments is the key component. ULIPs are remarkably alike to mutual funds in terms of their structure and functioning; premium payments made are converted into units and a net asset value (NAV) is declared for the same. Investors have the choice of enhancing stheir insurance cover, modifying premium payments and even opting for a distinct asset allocation than the one they originally opted for. This calls for enhanced flexibility in ULIPs. Also if an unforeseen eventuality were to occur, in case of traditional products, the sum assured is paid along with accumulated bonuses; conversely in ULIPs, the insured is paid either the sum assured or corpus amount whichever is higher. Insurance seekers have never been exposed to this kind of flexibility in traditional insurance products and it would be fair to say that ULIPs represent the new face of insurance. While few would dispute the value-add that ULIPs can provide to one's insurance portfolio and financial planning; the same is not without its flipside. For the uninitiated, understanding the functioning of ULIPs can be quite a handful! The presence of what seem to be relatively higher expenses, rigidly defined insurance and investment components and the impact of markets on the corpus clearly make ULIPs a complex proposition. Traditionally the insurance seeker's role was a passive one restricted to making premium payments; ULIPs require greater participation from the insured.