Bhawana Final
Bhawana Final
Bhawana Final
(KMBN-308)
ON
In the partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Session: 2022-2023
This is to certify that this report, titled “A STUDY ON FACTORS AFFECTING CUSTOMERS
PREFERENCE TOWARDS INVESTING IN LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES” is submitted by Ms.
Bhawana Rana as a partial fulfillment of the requirement of MBA Program of Anand engineering
college,Agra. It is an original work done by Ms. Bhawana Rana carried out by The leading Solutions
Pvt. Ltd. and making of thesame is authorized by Mr. Rajesh Gupta, The leading Solutions Pvt.
Ltd.
This report is formally submitted to company guide Mr. Shashank rao, AVP, The Leading Solutions
Pvt.Ltd.and Prof. Dr Ravikant Pathak, Faculty Guide, Anand Engineering College,Agra.
“The Report is submitted as partial fulfilment of the requirement of Anand Engineering College,Agra”
First of all I would like to thanks Almighty God for having given me strength to work on the right
path of life. I would like to thank ANAND ENGINEERING COLLEGE, for giving me this opportunity to
have had donemy SIP at The leading Solutions Pvt Ltd. .
My sincere thanks to Mr. Rajesh Gupta, Founder and Director at THE LEADING Solutions Pvt Ltd,
for givingus insights to the real corporate world and having given us great learnings throughout the
Internship. His constant efforts for making us learn has given a learning for a great living in our
future. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Mr. Shashank Rao, Company Guide & AVP at
The Leading Solutions Pvt Ltd,forgiving us the practical knowledge and making me aware of every
aspect of the products. His constant support throughout the Internship made it possible for me to
complete the project. I also would like to thank DR Ravikant Pathak, Faculty Guide, for his efforts on
making our Internship comfortable and helpingin resolving our issues throughout the SIP.
At last, but not the least, I am thankful to all my teachers, friends, The leading solution family and all
other contributors, who have been always helping and encouraging throughout the journey. I have
no valuable words to express my thanks, but my heart is still full of the favors received from every
person.
ABSTRACT
The job undertaken at the SIP is to call on leads provided by the Referral Partners of the
Company. The call is intended to make the leads apply for Loans which would further be
processed for disbursement. Also to work on various Business Loan cases, I also handle
segregating and forwarding the documents received for Business Loan leads. This gives a
brief idea about how theverification of these documents is done and also understanding and
studying these documents. Various training sessions organized by the company gave an
insight to various products offered by Leading solution. These training session included a
session regarding details about Financial Planning, its benefits and importance. The session
also focused on a brief idea about Mutual Funds and its types along with various strategies
for investing in Mutual Funds. One training session was dedicated on Insurance Products.
This session proved to be very usefulconsidering my report topic which covers the Factors
affecting customer preferences while buying Life Insurance Policies.
Looking at the scope of Business opportunities in Life Insurance Company, the topic, Study
on Factors affecting customers preference towards investing in Life Insurance Policies, will
help to understand the actual parameters on to what would be the factors for investing in
Life Insurance policies. The leading solution is a growing FinTech Platform and has shown
an incredible growth in increased number of customers every year. It has achieved
milestones in a very less amount of time. With growing number of customers, the
interaction with customers and their preferencesin buying Life Insurance Policies would
help to understand what changes can be made to bring about awareness amongst the people
regarding Life Insurance Policies and will help companies build new strategies and
products.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Name : Bhawana Rana
Roll Number :2100010700008
Name of Organization :The Leading Solutions Pvt Ltd Email ID
Address of Company : RG trade tower ,Netaji Subhash palace
PitampuramCity : Delhi
The study named “A STUDY ON FACTORS AFFECTING CUSTOMERS PREFERENCE
TOWARDS
INVESTING IN LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES” is about understanding the factors that affect
the customer’s decision while buying Life insurance Policies. The entire Internship was a
great learning because of its vast exposure to products and corporate world.
The main objective of the project was to study the various factors influencing customer
investment decisions in Life insurance Policy. It also studies the impact of various
demographic factors on customer Life Insurance Investment Decision. It also evaluates
various preferences ina company, in an insurance plan, and also which company is preferred
the most for Life InsurancePolicies.
The findings of the research were that customer decision to buy a Life Insurance Policy
majorly depends on demographic factors like the Age, Gender and Income Level.
Occupation is not dependent on taking Life Insurance Policies. LIC stands as the first
preference in company and Money back guarantee is the first preference for choosing a life
insurance policy. Also, customersprefer Money Back Policy and ULIP Plans for investment in
Life Insurance Policies. There are also recommendations included in the report for making
Insurance as an Investment.
CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION TO STUDY
1. Purpose, Objective, Scope and Limitation of the Study
1.1. Purpose of the Study
The study aims at understanding the market of Insurance. Insurance being one of the
mostimportant Financial Product in the market, still has not reached a more number of
customers.
The study also aims to understand various Life Insurance Products.
The main motive of the study is to understand the various factors that affect the
customersdecision in buying a Life Insurance Policy.
The study also aims to understand the various types of products provided by The
LeadingSolutions Pvt Ltd.
To understand the level of awareness regarding insurance products within the customers.
The present Descriptive and Exploratory type of Research is chosen with an objective of
studying factors which influence customers policy buying decisions and also analyze the
customers preferences while Life policy Investment decision making. Factors related to
Insurance would be studied in this project. The aim of study is also to understand which is
the most preferred Company for buying Insurance policies. Following are the main
objectives of the study :
The insurance industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the country and offers
abundance growth opportunity to the life insurers. When compared with the developed
foreign countries, the Indian life insurance industry has achieved only a little because of the
lack of insurance awareness, ineffective marketing strategies, poor affordability and low
investment in life insurance products. The huge and ever rising population levels in our
country provide an attractive opportunity but still nearly 70% Indian lives is un-insured.
The study is basically intended to discover and examine the factors affecting customers
decision towards investment in life insurance policy.
Definition of NBFCs : “NBFCs are Companies that are registered under The Companies Act,
1956 of India. NBFCs are engaged in business of Loans and Advances, Acquisition of shares,
bonds, hire purchase Insurance Business or chit-fund Business but does not include principal
business includes agriculture, industrial activity or the sale, purchase or construction of
immovable property.”
Non-Banking Financial Companies play an important and crucial role in broadening access
to financial services, enhancing competition and diversification of the financial sector.
There are different types of institutions involved in financial services in India. These
include commercial banks, financial institutions (FIs) and non-banking finance companies
(NBFCs). Due to the financial sector reforms, NBFCs have been emerged as an integral part
of the Indian financial system. Non-banking finance companies frequently act as suppliers of
loans & credit facilities and accept deposits, operating mutual funds and similar other
functions. They are competitive and complimentary to banks and financial institutions.
Many steps were taken in 1995-96 to reduce controls and remove operational constraints
in the banking system. These include interest rate decontrol, liberalization and selective
removal of Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) stipulation, enhanced refinance facilities against
government and other approved securities.
NBFCs have registered significant growth in recent years both in terms of number and
volume of business transactions (Table-2). The equipment leasing and hire purchase
finance companies finance productive assets. NBFCs role in financing consumer durables
and automobiles are very aggressive. The rapid growth in the business of NBFCs urged for
effective regulatory action to protect the interests of investors. The Reserve Bank has
started regulating the activities of NBFCs with the twin objectives of ensuring that they sub
serve the financial system efficiently and do not jeopardize the interest of depositors.
2.2 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BANKS AND NBFCS
NBFCs perform functions similar to that of banks but there are a few differences:
Asset
Finance
Company
(AFC)
Investment
Debt Fund
Company (IC)
(IDF-NBFC)
Types of
NBFCs
Systemically
Important Core Loan
Investment Companies
Company
(LC)
(CIC-ND-SI)
Infrastructure
Finance
Company
(IFC)
2.4. TYPES OF SERVICES PROVIDED BY NBFCs
NBFCs provide range of financial services to their clients. Types of services under non-
banking finance services include the following:
2. Leasing Services
Hire purchase the legal term for a conditional sale contract with an intention to finance
consumers towards vehicles, white goods etc. If a buyer cannot afford to pay the price as a
lump sum but can afford to pay a percentage as a deposit, the contract allows the buyer to
hire the goods for a monthly rent. If the buyer defaults in paying the installments, the
owner can repossess the goods. HP is a different form of credit system among other
unsecured consumer credit systems and benefits. Hero Honda Motor Finance Co., Bajaj Auto
Finance Company is someof the HP financing companies.
Leasing Services
A lease or tenancy is a contract that transfers the right to possess specific property. Leasing
service includes the leasing of assets to other companies either on operating lease or
finance lease. An NBFC may obtain license to commence leasing services subject to , they
shall not hold, deal or trade in real estate business and shall not fix the period of lease for
less than 3 years in the case of any finance lease agreement except in case of computers and
other IT accessories.
Housing Finance Services
Asset Management Company is managing and investing the pooled funds of retail investors
in securities in line with the stated investment objectives and provides more
diversification, liquidity, and professional management service to the individual investors.
Mutual Funds are comes under this category. Most of the financial institutions having their
subsidiaries as Asset Management Company like SBI, BOB, UTI and many others.
Venture capital Finance is a unique form of financing activity that is undertaken on the
belief of high-risk-high-return. Venture capitalists invest in those risky projects or
companies (ventures) that have success potential and could promise sufficient return to
justify such gamble. Venture capitalist not only provides finance but also often provides
managerial or technical expertise to venture projects. In India, venture capital concentrate
on seed capital finance for high technology and for research & development. ICICI ventures
and Gujarat Venture are one of the first venture capital organizations in India and SIDBI,
IDBI and others also promoting venture capital finance activities.
Mutual Benefit Finance Companies (MBFC's)
A mutual fund is a financial intermediary that allows a group of investors to pool their
money together with a predetermined investment objective. The mutual fund will have a
fund manager who is responsible for investing the pooled money into specific
securities/bonds. Mutual funds are one of the best investments ever created because they
are very cost efficient and very easy to invest in. By pooling money together in a mutual
fund, investors can purchase stocks or bonds with much lower trading costs than if they
tried to do it on their own. But the biggest advantageto mutual funds is diversification.
There are two main types of such funds, open-ended fund and close-ended mutual funds. In
case of open-ended fund, the fund manager continuously allows investors to join or leave
the fund. The fund is set up as a trust, with an independent trustee, who keeps custody over
the assets of the trust. Each share of the trust is called a Unit and the fund itself is called a
Mutual Fund. The portfolio of investments of the Mutual Fund is normally evaluated daily
by the fund manager on the basis of prevailing market prices of the securities in the
portfolio and this will be divided by the number of units issued to determine the Net Asset
Value (NAV) per unit. An investor can joinor leave the fund on the basis of the NAV per unit.
In contrast, a close-end fund is similar to a listed company with respect to its share capital.
These shares are not redeemable and are traded in the stock exchange like any other listed
securities. Value of units of close-end funds is determined by market forces and is available
at 20-30% discount to their NAV.
2.5. ROLE OF NBFCs IN INDIAN ECONOMY
NBFCs are financial intermediaries engaged in the business of accepting deposits delivering
credit and play an important role in channelizing the scarce financial resources to capital
formation. They supplement the role of the banking sector in meeting the increasing
financial needs of the corporate sector, delivering credit to the unorganized sector and to
small local borrowers. However, they do not include services related to agriculture activity,
industrial activity, sale, purchase or construction of immovable property. In India, despite
being different from banks, NBFC are bound by the Indian banking industry rules and
regulations.
NBFC focuses on business related to loans and advances, acquisition of shares, stock,
bonds, debentures, securities issued by government or local authority or other securities of
like marketable nature, leasing, hire-purchase, insurance business, chit business. The
banking sector would always be the most important sector in the field of business because
of its credibility in supporting manufacturing, infrastructural development and even being
the backbone for the common man's money. But despite this, the role of NBFCs is critical
and their presence in a country would only boost the economy in the right direction.
P Vijaya Bhaskar, ex – Executive Director, RBI, explained how NBFC companies are game-
changersthat are very important to the economy
Size of sector : The NBFC sector has grown considerably in the last few years despite
the slowdown in the economy.
Growth : In terms of year-over-year growth rate, the NBFC sector beat the banking
sector in most years between 2006 and 2013. On an average, it grew 22% every year.
This shows, it is contributing more to the economy every year.
Profitability : NBFCs are more profitable than the banking sector because of lower
costs. Thishelps them offer cheaper loans to customers. As a result, NBFCs' credit growth
- the increasein the amount of money being lent to customers – is higher than that of the
banking sector with more customers opting for NBFCs.
Infrastructure Lending : NBFCs contribute largely to the economy by lending to
infrastructureprojects, which are very important to a developing country like India. Since
they require large amount of funds, and earn profits only over a longer time-frame, these
are riskier projects and deters banks from lending. In the last few years, NBFCs have
contributed more to infrastructure lending than banks.
Promoting inclusive growth : NBFCs cater to a wide variety of customers - both in
urban and rural areas. They finance projects of small-scale companies, which is
important for the growth in rural areas. They also provide small-ticket loans for
affordable housing projects. All these help promote inclusive growth in the country.
With the increasing role of NBFCs in the Indian Economy, the Reserve Bank of India has
issued the notification Master Direction - Information Technology Framework for the NBFC
Sector this year. The directions on IT Framework for the NBFC sector are expected to
enhance safety, security, efficiency in processes leading to benefits for NBFCs and their
customers. NBFCs with asset size above 500 crores are expected to adhere to the new
"recommendations" by 30th September 2018. Recommendations for smaller NBFCs include
developing basic IT systems mainly for maintaining the database. While larger NBFCs stare
at a strict deadline, smaller NBFCs,especially Fintech startups have a bigger problem at hand;
an identity crisis! The business modelsof startups like BankBazaar mandate that they do not
become a NBFC, while the nature of operations of startups like LendingKart makes them a
NBFC as part of the legal compliance.
CHAPTER 3 : INTRODUCTION To THE LEADING SOLUTIONS PVT LTD
3.1. ABOUT THE COMPANY
The leading Solutions, India’s First B2B FinTech platform. THE LEADING SOLUTIONS also
focuses on B2Csegments. The Leading Solutions Pvt Ltd is India's first FinTech platform
that focuses on B2B segment and offers 360° Financial Solutions to its users. Its vast
product suite includes all types of Loans, Investments, Credit Cards, Insurance and Real
Estate based products. The Leading solution, is the outcome of the professional &
entrepreneurial commitment of its Founder Rajesh P Nair andits top management team, to
establish a high quality, customer centric, service driven FinTech catering to the future
businesses of India. The Leading solutions has adopted International best practices, the
highest standards of service quality and operational excellence, and offers comprehensive
banking and financial solutions to all its valued customers.
The leading solutions has a knowledge driven approach and offers a superior customer
experience for its retail, corporate and emerging corporate clients. Understanding
customer needs intimately, providing a complete product range for clients and total
commitment to service delivery is theirhallmark. They’ve partnered with all the Indian/
Foreign banks, Non- Banking Finance & HousingFinance Companies and Insurance
companies to offer the best products to their clients.
The Leading Solutions is India`s fastest growing marketplace and a FinTech platform for
Loans and Credit Cards. The leading solution aims to make personal finance decisions easy,
convenient and transparent for its customers. In less than 5 years, The leading solution has
disbursed more than 1000 Crores worth loans and catered the financial needs of more than
30,000 customers intuitive platform compares product offerings on the basis of key criteria
such as processing fees, interest rates, tenure and other features that matter the most to the
customer. Apart from providing unbiased comparison insights, we also provide you with
best-in-class assistance so thatyou get the best possible deal with minimum hassles.
In a nutshell, The leading Solutions ensures that the customer is provided with the best
productthrough the most convenient and hassle-free processes.
3.2. THE LEADING SOLUTION USP:
A Wide Range of Products: The leading Solutions is the only online financial
marketplace in India that offers a complete spectrum of financial products, ranging from
retail lending products, such as credit cards, personal loans, home loans, loans against
property, auto loans etc to investment products like mutual funds, Insurance and fixed
deposit. The Leading Solutions partners with over 50+ banks and other financial
institutions, catering to all segments with varied demographics.
Unbiased & Customized Advise: The leading Solutions offers customized solutions to
all lending and investment needs of a customer. The comparison engine is an intuitive
platform that provides unbiased choices to their customers, based on the profile and
needs. After processing the latest financial numbers from virtually all banks and fiscal
organizations, this engine helps users arrive at a smarter decision instantly.
A Seamless Journey: The Leading Solutions also helps customers make the right choice
and assists them throughout the transaction process with the bank. A seamless product
journey and assistance over the phone from the sales force, makes the entire buying
process at The Leading solutions simple and speedy.
Paperless and Presence-less Processes: The leading Solutions is focused on using
technology to build presence-less and paperless solutions in the financial services
aggregation space. Riding on the Indian Government's India Stack initiative that aims to
digitize customer identification and verification, The Leading Solutions is developing
solutions where processes are completed on its platform without the need for customers
to either visit banks or do multiple sheets of paperwork.
Awards and Accolades: In recognition of its stellar performance since inception, The
Leading Solutions was felicitated with the Among the 10 Most Admired Non-banking
Financial Companies in 2018 - by Insight Success in June 2018.
3.3. The Leading Solutions Advantage
To provide 360 Degree Financial Solutions to its customers and Referral Partners
To provide additional income to its Referral Partners
Additional Income For Individual Insurance Agents, AMFI Agents, Real Estate Agents
&Financial Consultants
To become a bank by the year 2025
3.5 - COMPANY DETAILS
Referral Partners : Referral Partners of The leading solution act like the Distribution
Partners for The leading solution. Referral Partners are the people who provide leads to
the company. The leads can be for Personal Loan, Business Loan, Home Loan, Loan
Against Property (LAP), Insurance, Mutual Funds, Investments, Financial planning, etc.
The leads are further processed by The leading solution and are forwarded to its
partners for Loan Disbursement Process. After the loan is disbursed, the Referral
Partner who referred the lead, gets a commission from thecompany. 40% of the total
commission earned by The leading solutionon the amount of loan disbursed, is given to
the Referral Partner. Currently there are more than 15000+ Referral Partners of The
leading solution in PAN India.
3.10 - PROCESS OF LOAN DISBURSEMENT :
The Referral Partner initially provides the lead of a customer on the Website or the The
leading solutions App (available for Android as well as iOS). The customer receives a Link
on their Phonewhich contains an Online Loan Application form. The Loan Application Form
contains of 34 odd questions which captures the basic details of the customer. The
company thus collects the data of the customer and further forwards the data to its Partners
who actually provide loan. The data is automatically scanned and filtered and sent to the
Banks or NBFCs according to their criteria. For e.g. Early Salary is a company associated with
The leading solution and accepts the application of thecustomer only if the salary of
customer is above Rs. 20000. Hence when an application comes toThe leading solution with
a salary of less than 20000, it does not forward the same to Early Salary. Similarly, every
company or Bank associated with The leading solutions have their certain criteria, and
theapplications reach the Bank after getting filtered and scanned.
After the Bank receives the application, the customer needs to download the mobile
application of that particular bank and upload their documents on the same. Once the
customer uploads the documents, the documents are checked and verified. The documents
include Aadhar Card, PAN Card, Address Proof, Salary Slip of 3 months and Bank Statement
in PDF for 6 Months. After studying the documents, the eligibility of the customer is
checked. Eligibility means that for how much amount of loan is the customer eligible to get.
This calculation is done while considering the Net Salary of the customer.. Once these
documents get verified, the Underwriter rejects or accepts the loan on the basis of his
documents. The customer is then asked to add Bank Details to transfer the Loan Amount.
And hence the loan is disbursed.
CHAPTER 4 : SWOT ANALYSIS OF THE LEADING SOLUTIONS PVT
LTD.
Strengths
1. The leading solution is the only B2B FinTech Platform in India.
2. Completely Online Platform makes the leading solution a technologically advanced
FintechCompany.
3. Customer Retention because of high level of satisfaction within the customers.
4. Good Reputation within the Market.
5. One stop destination for all Financial Needs of a Customer.
6. Cross-selling with the customers help in retaining the customers and avoid losing
them tocompetitors.
7. Amongst Top 10 Most Admired NBFCs in India.
8. Strong Team bonding because of team activities like Bandhan and Parivartan.
9. Increasing number of Referral Partners every day (currently 18000+).
Weakness
1. Being a Start-up Company, the company is still in a developing stage, and so not a
completelywell settled Business.
2. The IT Team being yet in its developing phase, faces a lot of bugs and needs a more
smoothworking.
3. Calling to the Customer is late at times after they have applied for the loan, which
results inlosing the customers.
4. Slow Process of Loan Disbursement.
5. Lesser number of Disbursements as compared to the number of applications coming in.
6. Less number of Employees.
7. Less customers for products like Home Loan, LAP, Insurance, etc.
Opportunities
1. The leading solutions can earn more profits by focusing on both B2B as well as B2C
segments.
2. Building up a more strong IT team by training and recruiting more talents will
help Theleading solutions to have a stable IT Team and thus have a smooth
functioning.
3. Increasing its promotion for Insurance Products to customers will help to get
morecustomers for Insurance which is a fast growing product today.
4. Increasing Number of Employees for the company so as to have more faster
customerinteraction thus leading to less losing of customers.
5. Focus on other products like Home Loan and LAP and other 50+ products will help
companygenerate a good revenue.
6. Hiring an HR Professional in order to have a more smooth functioning of Business.
7. Increased number of Referral Partners will help The leading solutions to become a
Bankearly then itsvision of becoming one before 2025.
8. Understanding of why the applications are being rejected can help the company to get
morebetter potential customers and also help in future decisions.
Threats
1) Increasing companies providing loans may lead to loss of customers. If a customer is
directlylinked with the Bank, then he/she may not prefer coming to The leading
solutions for Assistance.
2) Losing customers because of reaching late to a customer on call.
3) Losing of potential employees may lead to slow pace growth of the company.
4) Less use of Potential Product Base may lead to losing customers and indirectly
losingBusiness.
5) Advancement in Technology with the competitors may affect the performance of The
leading solutions.
CHAPTER 5 : INTRODUCTION TO INSURANCE
Definition : “Insurance is a contract, represented by a policy, in which an individual or entity
receives financial protection or reimbursement against losses from an insurance company.”
The insured receives a contract, called the insurance policy, which details the conditions
and circumstances under which the insurer will compensate the insured. The amount of
money charged by the insurer to the Policyholder for the coverage set forth in the
insurance policy is called the premium. If the insured experiences a loss which is
potentially covered by the insurance policy, the insured submits a claim to the insurer for
processing by a claims adjuster. The insurer may hedge its own risk by taking out
reinsurance, whereby another insurance company agrees to carry some of the risk,
especially if the primary insurer deems the risk too large for it to carry. Insurance involves
pooling funds from many insured entities (known as exposures) to pay for the losses that
some may incur. The insured entities are therefore protected from risk for a fee, with the
fee being dependent upon the frequency and severity of the event occurring. In order to be
an insurable risk, the risk insured against must meet certain characteristics. Insurance as a
financial intermediary is a commercial enterprise and a major part
of the financial services industry, but individual entities can also self-insure through saving
money for possible future losses.
The insurance industry of India consists of 63 insurance companies of which 24 are in life
insurance business and 39 are non-life insurers. Among the life insurers, Life Insurance
Corporation (LIC) is the sole public sector company. Apart from that, among the non-life
insurers, there are seven public sector insurers. In addition to these, there are two national
re-insurer. Other stakeholders in Indian Insurance market include agents (individual and
corporate), brokers, surveyors and third party administrators servicing health insurance
claims.
Life insurance companies offer coverage to the life of the individuals, whereas the non-life
insurance companies offer coverage with our day-to-day living like travel, health, our car
and bikes, and home insurance. Not only this, but the non-life insurance companies provide
coverage for our industrial equipment’s as well. Crop insurance for our farmers, gadget
insurance for mobiles, pet insurance etc. are some more insurance products being made
available by the general insurance companies in India.
5.3.1 – MARKET SIZE
Government's policy of insuring the uninsured has gradually pushed insurance penetration
in thecountry and proliferation of insurance schemes.
Gross premiums written in India reached Rs 5.53 trillion in FY18, with Rs 4.58 trillion from
life insurance and Rs 1.51 trillion from non-life insurance. Overall insurance penetration
(premiums as % of GDP) in India reached 3.69 per cent in 2017 from 2.71 per cent in 2001.
In FY19 (up to Jan 2019), premium from new life insurance business increased 3.91 per cent
year-on-year to Rs 1.59 trillion. In FY19 (up to Jan 2019), gross direct premiums of non-life
insurers reached Rs 1.39 trillion, showing a year-on-year growth rate of 12.65 per cent.
The Government of India has taken a number of initiatives to boost the insurance industry.
Someof them are as follows:
The government also strives hard to provide insurance to individuals in a below poverty
line by introducing schemes like the:
Introduction of these schemes would help the lower and lower-middle income categories
toutilize the new policies with lower premiums in India.
The future looks promising for the life insurance industry with several changes in
regulatory framework which will lead to further change in the way the industry conducts
its business and engages with its customers.
The overall insurance industry is expected to reach US$ 280 billion by 2020. Life insurance
industry in the country is expected grow by 12-15 per cent annually for the next three to
five years.
Demographic factors such as growing middle class, young insurable population and
growing awareness of the need for protection and retirement planning will support the
growth of Indianlife insurance.
5.3.4 – MARKET SHARE
LIC
6%
HDFC Standard Life
SBI Life Insurance
ICICI Prudential
Others
Interpretation : As we can see, according to IRDA, the highest market share currently in
India is of Life Insurance Company, the reason being its trustworthiness and its existence
for these many years. It is followed by HDFC Standard Life with 7% of Market share and SBI
Life with 6% of Market Share. ICICI Prudential holds 5% of Market Share. The remaining
14% has been a total of all otherInsurance Companies.
Life Insurance Car Insurance Health Insurance Home Insurance Travel Insurance
Definition : Life insurance (or life assurance) is a contract between an insurance policy holder
and an insurer or assurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of
money(the benefit) in exchange for a premium, upon the death of an insured person (often the
policy holder).
Term insurance is initially much less expensive when compared to permanent life
insurance. Unlike most types of permanent insurance, term insurance has no cash value.
There are many different types of term insurance policies available. Many policies offer
level premiums for the duration of the policy, such as 10, 20, or 30 years. These are often
referred to as "level term" policies. While premiums for these level term policies remain
level for a set number of years, after this time period the premium increases significantly,
making the policy cost prohibitive. Most term policies have a built-in privilege to convert to
a permanent policy regardless of any changes in the insured's health.
a) A guarantee on the premium and survivor benefit for a defined amount of years,
depending on the company, age of the insured and other factors.
b) No capability of accumulating cash inside the policy. You can't pay an extra premium to
get extra benefit. You can’t transfer money from other accounts into the policy. The
carrier will not pay dividends or apply interest to your account.
6.3.2 – Whole Life Insurance
Whole life insurance, or whole of life assurance (in the Commonwealth of Nations),
sometimes called "straight life" or "ordinary life," is a life insurance policy which is
guaranteed to remain in force for the insured's entire lifetime, provided required
premiums are paid, or to the maturity date. As a life insurance policy it represents a
contract between the insured and insurer that as long as the contract terms are met, the
insurer will pay the death benefit of the policy to the policy's beneficiaries when the insured
dies. Because whole life policies are guaranteed to remain in force as long as the required
premiums are paid, the premiums are typically much higher than those of term life
insurance where the premium is fixed only for a limited term. Whole life premiums are
fixed, based on the age of issue, and usually do not increase with age. The insured party
normally pays premiums until death, except for limited pay policies which may be paid up
in 10 years, 20 years, or at age 65. Whole life insurance belongs to the cash value category of
lifeinsurance, which also includes universal life, variable life, and endowment policies.
Individuals may find whole life attractive because it offers coverage for an indeterminate
lengthof time. It is the dominant choice for insuring so-called "permanent" insurance needs,
including:
a) Funeral expenses
b) Estate planning
c) Surviving spouse income
d) Supplemental retirement income.
Individuals may find whole life less attractive, due to the relatively high premiums, for
insuring:
a) Large debts
b) Temporary needs, such as children's dependency years,
c) Young families with large needs and limited income.
6.3.3 – Endowment Policy
An endowment policy is a life insurance contract designed to pay a lump sum after a specific
term(on its 'maturity') or on death. Typical maturities are ten, fifteen or twenty years up to
a certain age limit. Some policies also pay out in the case of critical illness.
Policies are typically traditional with-profits or unit-linked (including those with unitised
with- profits funds the holder then receives the surrender value which is determined by the
insurance company depending on how long the policy has been running and how much has
been paid into it. Pension insurance provides many benefits. They can be used as a low-risk
way to save. Policyholders can choose how much to pay each month and how long they
want to stay, usuallyfor 10 or 20 years.
1) Dual Benefit : Endowment Plans offer the dual benefit of Long Term Investment and
Insurance. Apart from paying the sum assured to the beneficiary in case of the policy
holder’s demise, endowment plans also pay a lump sum maturity amount is the policy
holder survivesthe policy tenure.
2) Safe : Even though the returns on endowment plans may be lower, they are risk free in
termsof the sum assured.
3) Disciplined Savings : Policy holders need to set aside a pre-determined amount
towards the premium payment at a stipulated time interval, thus encouraging a
disciplined approach to saving.
4) Assured bonus : Endowment plans declare an annual bonus, typically paid out as a
specific percentage of the sum assured. In case of policy holder’s survival, additional
bonuses accrued during the policy are paid in addition to the sum assured
5) Compounding returns : A key advantage of endowment plans is that they fetch returns
on acompounding basis during a policy term
6) High Liquidity : Endowment Policies are liquid in nature.
6.3.4 – Money Back Policy
Money back plans protect your family’s financial interests from circumstances such as
death or critical illness of the policy holder. Periodic Payouts create wealth for meeting
financial commitments at key stages in life. Money Back plans offer true amalgamation of
Insurance and Investment. Secure your family financially.
Money back plans are one of the most popular life insurance plans in India. Under these
plans, policy holders receive a frequent payouts as the death benefit, in case the policy
holder survices. These packages include both insurance and investment plans. A money
back plan is ideal for people who want a guaranteed return on their investments and are
looking for regular payouts at the same time in additionn to an insurance cover for
themselves for the same money they are putting as a premium. Unline a standard life
insurance policy that only pays an amount after the maturity of the policy, the money back
plan starts to pay an amount that is called a ‘survival benefit’ over the lifetime of the policy.
This survival benefit is given after a few years from the start of money back plan and
continues until the maturity of the money back policy. The survival benefit is basically the
reward from the company to the insured individual for surviving. The benefit is only paid if
the insured is alive.
a) Low Risk Exposure : Money Back policy plans are insurance cum return products,
hencethey don’t entail high risk.
b) Regular Source of Income : Money Back policy provides frequent payouts
during thepolicy terms. This is known as Survival Benefits.
c) Insurance Coverage : Money Back Policy offers insurance coverage, thus
providing financial security to your family members to meet their obligations
after your demise.
d) Assured Return on Investment : Money back plans offer an assured return on
the invested amount. Therefore, you need not worry about losing out on your
investment.
6.3.5 – Unit linked Insurance Plans
ULIP or Unit Linked Insurance Plan is a mix of insurance along with investment. From a
ULIP, the goal is to provide wealth creation along with life cover where the insurance
company puts a portion of your investment towards life insurance and rest into a fund that
is based on equity ordebt or both and matches with your long-term goals. These goals could
be retirement planning, children’s education or another important event you may wish to
save for.
When you make an investment in ULIP, the insurance company invests part of the premium
in shares/bonds etc., and the balance amount is utilized in providing an insurance cover.
There are fund managers in the insurance companies who manage the investments and
therefore the investor is spared the hassle of tracking the investments. ULIPS allow you to
switch your portfolio between debt and equity based on your risk appetite as well as your
knowledge of the market’s performance. Benefits like these which offer investors the
flexibility of switching is a huge factor contributing to the popularity of these investment
instruments.
Benefits of ULIP :
a) Life cover: First and foremost, with ULIPs you get a life cover coupled with investment. It
offers security that a taxpayer’s family can fall back on in case of emergencies like the
untimely deathof the taxpayer, etc.
b) Income tax benefits: Not many are aware that the premium paid towards a ULIP is
eligible for a tax deduction under Section 80C. Additionally, the returns out of the policy
on maturity areexempt from income tax under Section 10(10D) of the Income-tax Act.
c) Finance Long Term Goals: If you have long-term goals like buying a house, a new car,
marriage, etc., then ULIP is a good investment option because the money gets
compounded. As a result,the net returns are generally more.
d) The flexibility of a portfolio switch: As already mentioned, ULIPS are usually designed
in a way that they allow you to switch your portfolio between debt and equity based on
your risk appetite as well as your knowledge of how the market is performing.
6.4– Consolidated benefits and information of Life Insurance Plans
Girish Kumar and Eldhose (2008), published in insurance chronicle icfai monthly magazine
august 2008 in their paper titled "customer perception on life insurance services: a
comparative study of public and private sectors", well explained the importance of quality
services and its significance in raising customer satisfaction level. A comparative study of
public and private sectors help in understanding the customer perception, satisfaction and
awareness on various life insurance services.
CHAPTER 8 : DATA ANALYSIS
8.1. – Demographic Details of the Respondents.
8.1.1. – Age of the Respondents :
72 21 to 30
years 31 to
40 years 41
59 to 50 years
51 to 60
years
Interpretation :
The graph represents the ages of the respondents. The majority of the respondents, i.e. 72
were of the age 21 to 30 years, followed by 59 respondents of age 31 to 40 years. There are
16 respondents of age 41 to 50 years and 4 respondents from 51 to 60 years age. There
were zero respondents of age above 60 years.
8.1.2. – Gender of the Respondents :
63
88
MALE FEMALE
Interpretation :
The respondents for the survey included 58% of Male respondents. Total male respondents
were
88. On the other hand, there were 42% of female respondents. The total comber of female
respondents was 63.
8.1.3. – Income of the Respondents :
50 48
44
40
30
24
20 17
12
10
6
0
₹0 - ₹20000 ₹20001 - ₹40001 ₹60001 ₹80001 ₹100001
₹40000 - - - and
₹6000 ₹8000 ₹10000 above.
0 0 0
Interpretation :
Majority of the respondents, i.e. 48 respondents were from the salary range between ₹40001 -
₹60000, which is followed by 44 respondents with a salary in between ₹0 - ₹20000. There
wereonly 6 respondents Above ₹100001. 24 respondents of ₹20001 - ₹40000 and 17 and
12 from
₹60001 - ₹80000 & ₹80001 - ₹100000 income bracket respectively.
8.1.4. – Occupation of the Respondents :
Total
1
28
Agriculture
62 Business / Private
SectorGovernment
Service
32 Homemaker
Professional
1 Student
27
Interpretation :
Policy(s)?
Total
39
No
Ye
s
112
Interpretation :
112 out of 151 respondents were holding an insurance policy. Hence, there were 74.2% of
respondents who hold an insurance policy. 39 respondents out of 151 respondents did not
hold any insurance policy which contributed to 25.8% of respondents not holding an
insurance policy.
8.2.2. – Number of people holding Insurance policies based on their Occupation.
60
50
40
30 Yes
No
20
10
0
Agriculture Business Government Homemaker Professional
/ Studen
Private tService
Sector
Interpretation :
The bar graph above shows a detailed information about people of various occupations
owning Life Insurance policies. Majority of respondents are from business sector who hold
a policy, whereas students had the least number or policy holders. Majority of Private
sectors employees availed a policy by their employer and hence the ratio was high. Same
was the case with Government Sector employees.
8.2.3. – Number of people holding Insurance policies based on their Age
60 57
50
40 39
33
30 No
Yes
20
12
10
4 4
2
0
21 to 30 years 31 to 40 years 41 to 50 years 51 to 60 years
Interpretation :
From the graph it is clear that the number of people holding an insurance policy is maximum
inthe age of 31 to 40 years followed by the age group 21 to 30 years.
Hypothesis :
investment decision.
Hypothesis
investment decision.
Since the calculated value of ‘r’ is positive, it is concluded that there is a significant
relationship between age and customer insurance investment decision. Hence age affects
the customer life policy buying decision.
8.2.6. - Calculation of association between Occupation of respondents and Life
InsuranceInvestment Decision
Hypothesis
investment decision.
CHI-SQUARE TEST: chi-square test is applied to test the goodness of fit, to verify the
distribution of observed data with assumed theoretical distribution. Therefore it is a
measure to study the divergence of actual and expected frequencies; Karl Pearson’s has
developed a method to test the difference between the theoretical (hypothesis) & the
observed value.
4. My Occupation * 9. What preference would you give to Life Insurance?
Crosstabulation
9. What preference would you give Total
to Life Insurance?
High Low Medium
4. My Agriculture Count 0 0 1 1
Occupation Expected .4 .1 .5 1.0
Count
Residual -.4 -.1 .5
Business / Private Count 30 5 27 62
Sector Expected 27.1 6.2 28.7 62.0
Count
Residual 2.9 -1.2 -1.7
Government Count 8 5 14 27
Service Expected 11.8 2.7 12.5 27.0
Count
Residual -3.8 2.3 1.5
Homemaker Count 1 0 0 1
Expected .4 .1 .5 1.0
Count
Residual .6 -.1 -.5
Professional Count 15 3 14 32
Expected 14.0 3.2 14.8 32.0
Count
Residual 1.0 -.2 -.8
Student Count 12 2 14 28
Expected 12.2 2.8 13.0 28.0
Count
Residual -.2 -.8 1.0
Total Count 66 15 70 151
Expected 66.0 15.0 70.0 151.0
Count
Chi-Square Tests
Asymptotic
Significance (2-
Value df sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 6.917a 10 .733
Likelihood Ratio 7.434 10 .684
N of Valid Cases 151
Interpretation :
Analysis :
Hence, we can conclude that Occupation is not dependent on the customer life
insuranceinvestment decision.
8.2.7. - Calculation of association between Gender of respondents and Life
InsuranceInvestment Decision
Hypothesis
investment decision.
Analysis :
Interpretation :
Hence, we can conclude that there is dependency between Gender of the customer and Life
Insurance Investment Decision. So, Gender influences customer Life Insurance policy
buying decision.
8.2.8 – Preferences of the Policy Holders.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Interpretation :
From the above graph and table, we can see that the maximum preference of the people is
Life Insurance Company with 38.63% and 85 respondents. The second rank lies with Max
Life with 16.36% and 36 respondents. With a close gap, SBI Life holds the Third place with
15.45% and 34 respondents, whereas HDFC and ICICI hold equal number of respondents
and hold 10% with 22 respondents. Bajaj Allianz being the last with 8.63% with 19
respondents. Thus it can be inferred that LIC of India is the most preferred life insurance
company and majority of them prefer government-owned LIC for getting insured because
of security. The other private life insurance companies are having less percentage of share
and those who prefer private insurers are because of better customer services and high
returns.
8.2.9. – Type of Policy Preferred
Count
General Insurance 1
Money Back 50
Term Plan 43
Endowment 23
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Interpretation :
From the above graph, we can say that the maximum number of policies being purchased or
preferred in a market are Money Back Policy with 25.77% and 50 respondents, followed by
ULIP with 24.74% and 48 respondents. Term plan takes the third place with 22.16% and 43
respondent. Endowment plans are the least preferred in these set of respondents with only
11.8% and 23 respondents. Thus it can depict that among many plans available, the most
preferred one among the mass is money back plan. This plan helps you to withdraw your
money at regular intervals and still staying insured. This plan is famous for its high liquidity
advantage. The other product gaining popularity is ULIP, as its serve multiple purpose, it
give high returns, tax benefit, life insurance , critical illness cover and is admired for its
flexibility for paying premium amount.
8.2.10. – The Most Attractive features in a Policy
For analyzing and ranking various features in a policy, weighted average method is being used.
Interpretation :
Coverance3rd = Low
Premium
Thus, we can say that the Money Back guarantee feature plays a vital role in buying decision
of a customer, followed by larger risk Coverance. Low Premium and Company’s reputation
stand on 3rd as well as 4th position respectively. Hence, these are the features a company
should keep in mind while selling a policy to a customer.
8.2.11. – Preferences in a Company :
Preference in a Company
Accessibility 27
Good Plans
63
A Trusted 89
Company
0 20 40 60 80 100
Interpretation :
It is evident from the graph that a customer looks for a trusted name or a company while
investing in life insurance policies. 59.30% people would prefer choosing a trusted
company. The second factor a customer would look for is a good plan with 42% people
responding for it. 35.30% people whereas think that Friendly service and responsiveness is
what they would choose. Least number of responses were given to Accessibility with only
18%. Hence, we can conclude that having a trusted name with good plans can be two
factors to attract people for buying Life Insurance Policies.
8.2.12. - Ranking various Benefits (as per the customer) responsible for
investment in lifeinsurance products
For analyzing and ranking various benefits in a policy, weighted average method is being used.
Rank 1st = 5 points, 2nd = 4 points, 3rd = 3 points, 4th = 2 points, 5th = 1 point.
Interpretation :
Returns3rd = Premium
Charges
Services.
It can be depicted that Tax Benefit lies the main concern of customers while buying a policy
andthen other benefits mentioned below
CHAPTER 9 : RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The present study is an exploratory and descriptive type of research study. The study aims
to find out the factors influencing customers life insurance investment decision and their
preferences at the time of policy buying decision. The respondents were majorly from the
Pune District. In orderto conduct the study, a total of 151 population were taken for survey.
The data for the study has been collected from both primary and secondary sources. The
primary data has been collected through Google Forms and Surveys. Various interviews
were conducted in order to collect the data. Customer Interaction and telephonic
conversations helped to understand various factors and problems of the customer which
were mentioned in the study. The secondary data has been collected from IRDA annual
reports, insurance journals, magazinesand insurance website.
For measuring various phenomena and analyzing the collected data effectively and
efficiently to draw sound conclusions, a number of statistical techniques including chi-
square, correlation, weighted average score have been used for the testing of hypotheses.
SPSS and Microsoft Excelhas been used for the purpose of analysis.
CHAPTER 10 : FINDINGS FROM THE STUDY
1. From the Study, it can be found that the customer decision to buy a Life Insurance
Policy majorly depends on demographic factors like the Age, Gender and Income Level.
2. Majority of the respondents from the age group of 31 to 40 years are found to be
interestedin buying a Life Insurance Policy.
3. From amongst 151 respondents, 85 people have shown preference towards buying a
Life Insurance policy from LIC followed by Max Life Insurance amongst the private
players. Therewere being followed by SBI Life, HDFC and ICICI and lastly Bajaj Allianz.
4. The features that a policy holder may consider can be ranked as 1st = Money Back
Guarantee, 2nd = Larger Risk Coverance, 3rd = Low Premium and 4th = Company’s
Reputation. Thus we can infer that the Money Back Guarantee feature lies amongst the
first feature a consumer may prefer while investing in a Life Insurance Policy.
5. From the study it was also found out that majority of the policy holders owned the
Money Back Policy of LIC followed by ULIP Plans of private insurers. The Term Plan and
Endowment plans are still existing but has a lower popularity as compared to Money
Back and ULIP plans. Thus we can say that in present days people are more interested
in policies which give highreturns along with risk coverage benefits.
6. The study also shows highest share in the market is still owned by LIC. And amongst
the private sectors, SBI Life, HDFC and ICICI are leading because of high returns assured
by them.People chose LIC because of the safety issues inn term of their investments.
7. Majority of the respondents look for a trusted name in the Insurance Company
followed byGood Plans, Friendly service and response and accessibility in the last.
CHAPTER 11 : RECOMMENDATIONS
1. In today’s competitive world, it is very important to satisfy the customer. It is one of the
most important aspect to retain the customers. Having customer retention helps a
company to survive in the market. Today, private insurers are hitting the market
extensively and thus through their best services and plans possible, they can reposition
and differentiate themselves from LIC.
2. As the study said, the customers look up for a trusted name, thus, like LIC, Private
insurers should also emphasis more on building brand awareness. From the survey, it
was found that 31.13% of the respondents were not even aware of various Life
Insurance Policies. Thus, private insurers can use different modes of communication of
reaching to people in order to spread insurance awareness amongst the people.
3. If both the Private as well as Government Sector work together in order to spread
awareness amongst the people, it would be beneficial for both the sectors. To achieve
greater insurance penetration, healthier competition has to be intensified by both the
sectors and they should come up with new innovative products to offer greater variety or
choice to the customers and also make improvement in the quality of services and sell
products through appropriate distribution channel to win-win situation for both the
parties.
4. Even today, there are many people who do not consider Life insurance policy as a source
of Investment. Thus, insurance companies should come up with plans with high risk
coverage and also focus on encouraging the customers in doing a long term investment.
This will help in more awareness as well as Investment in Life Insurance.
5. If insurance companies come up with products which can give high risk cover, with
lesser premium and more returns and more such innovative ideas, it would be helpful
for the insurance companies to attract more customers.
CHAPTER 12 : CONCLUSION
Life Insurance is an important form of insurance and essential for every individual. Life
insurance penetration in India is very low as compared to developed nations where almost
all the lives are covered. Customers are the real pillar of the success of life insurance
business and thus it’s important for insurers to keep their policyholders satisfied and
retained as long as possible and also get new business out of it by offering need based
innovative products. There are many factors which affect customers investment decision in
life insurance and from the study it has been concluded that demographic factors of the
people play a major and pivotal role in decidingthe purchase of life insurance policies.
Life Insurance Companies thus should keep an eye on all these factors while designing or
promoting any life insurance policy as this would help them keep their customers satisfied
and would also help them in Customer Retention.
Life Insurance is growing with its various products like the Money Back and ULIP plans
which many of the customers are still unaware and thus a proper knowledge regarding the
same can be helpful to the customers to choose and invest in Life Insurance Policies.
Human life is not just unique but is also precious and needs to be secured as there are
many dependents on one human after the death. Thus, one needs to make sure that he/she
secures their lives by taking one or the other Insurance Policies.
KEY LEARNINGS AND ACHIEVEMENTS IN SIP
Key
Learnings :
Major Achievements :
Media Reports, Press Releases, Press Information Bureau, Union Budget 2017-18,
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA).
Email Address :
(Please answer the further questions based on your thinking even if you don’t own
anInsurance, leave the question if you don’t want to answer it)
10. Which Life Insurance do you prefer the - Max Life - ICICI
Prudentialmost for Insurance? - HDFC Standard - SBI Life
- Bajaj Allianz - LIC
- Other -
13. What are the features that you would - Money Back
Guaranteeprefer in Life Insurance Policy? - Larger Risk Coverance
(Rank each feature in order of your - Easy Access to Agents
Preference – 1 to 5) - Low Premium
- Company’s Reputation
Tax
Benefit
Risk
Coverage&
Savings
Security
withHigh
Return
Insuranc
e
Services
Premiu
m
Charges