The life insurance arm of the country's largest private-sector lender does it not to expand workforce, but to maintain its strength, as almost a similar number of staffers keeps leaving every month.
With several $500 million-plus deals in the pipeline -- including ICICI Prudential AMC, Lenskart, PhonePe, Groww, PhysicsWallah, Meesho, Pine Labs, and Zepto -- investment bankers look poised for another year of hefty bonuses in 2025.
rediffGURU Vipul Bhavsar answers readers' personal income tax queries.
rediffGURU Vipul Bhavsar answers readers' personal income tax queries.
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company (IPru) is struggling to generate growth in the value of new business (VNB). This is due to a combination of weak growth through the parent bank's channels, a shifting product mix in favour of unit-linked life insurance policies (ULIPS), and higher payouts to third-party channels. Leverage from current investments, a further reduction in contributions from ICICI Bank, and a pick-up in non-participating policies from the end of the year is key for this metric in the near to medium term.
'We operate in an economy that is structurally positioned for long-term growth. As market levels rise over time, our AUM grows in line.'
With more players, products and rising consciousness about the need for insurance, the market has to grow. As for the team, the existing management team continues (at ICICI Prudential) to be there. The team has built a solid business, an excellent brand. The systems are in place, so it is a good stepping stone, says Vaidyanathan.
Ask rediffGURU Naveenn Kummar your insurance mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries on Monday sold 85 lakh shares of Asian Paints for Rs 1,876 crore through an open market transaction.
However, three of the policy's four funds have been performing below the benchmarks, for the last two years.
Largecap equity funds remain suitable for conservative and moderate risk-taking investors seeking relatively stable returns.
While investments are typically reviewed annually, risk cover is often left unchanged for years.
The sector's IPO pipeline is led by Tata Capital's Rs 17,000 crore issue, followed by ICICI Prudential Asset Management at Rs 10,200 crore and Billionbrains Garage Ventures at Rs 6,000 crore.
The insurance industry is trying to get to grips with provisions in the proposed Insurance Amendment Bill, which gives additional powers to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai), while there is ambiguity in the very definition of the insurance business, according to industry experts.
Ask rediffGURU Reetika Sharma your insurance, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has become the first private insurance company to cross Rs 10,000 crore sum assured over a premium income of Rs 680 crore within 3 years of operations and plans to hike its capital further to expand the business.
Some of the leading life insurance companies have reported a sharp decline in the number of lives covered in FY25, largely due to a slowdown in credit-linked life insurance policies. Stress in the microfinance segment has reduced loan disbursements and, in turn, the flow of new customers to insurers.
Both the life and non-life insurance segment posted over 20 per cent premium growth in November for the first time in this financial year (FY26), supported by the reduction in goods and services tax (GST) on premiums from 18 per cent to zero and a favourable base effect.
Make sure the rider adds value rather than just adding to cost.
Ask rediffGURU Reetika Sharma your insurance, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
New business premiums of life insurance companies dropped 5.2 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in August to Rs 30,959 crore, owing to a double-digit decline reported by state-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), data from the Life Insurance Council showed. LIC recorded a 17 per cent YoY fall in new business premiums to Rs 16,023 crore during the month, while private life insurers reported a 12 per cent YoY increase to Rs 14,936 crore.
This marks the strongest DRHP filing tally since 1996, when 428 firms sought to enter India's equity markets.
Passive funds appeal to investors seeking to avoid the risk of underperformance by the fund manager and minimise the need for frequent chopping and changing of funds.
Canadian firm Manulife and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), an Indian automaker with interests in financial services, have signed an agreement to form a 50:50 life insurance joint venture (JV) with a total capital commitment of up to Rs 3,600 crore each totalling Rs 7,200 crore.
'Allocating 5 to 10 per cent of one's portfolio and staying disciplined through market cycles helps in having a positive investment experience.'
The top 20 fund houses held 6.8 per cent of their portfolios in cash as of May 31, down from a record high of 7.2 per cent in April 2025.
The reduction in goods & services tax (GST) on individual life and health insurance premiums has been called a "landmark step" for making insurance affordable and inclusive. In a panel discussion at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2025, Anup Bagchi, managing director (MD) & chief executive officer (CEO) of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance; Mahesh Balasubramanian, MD & CEO of Kotak Life Insurance; Tarun Chugh, MD & CEO of Bajaj Life Insurance; and Ratnakar Patnaik, MD of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), listed what else the industry needs to reach more people.
'Investing in these funds makes sense if their net yield over better-quality funds -- corporate bond funds or banking and PSU funds -- is meaningful.'
More than a third of 83 mainboard IPOs this year ended their debut sessions in the red, with losses of up to 35 per cent.
New investors should avoid short-term, tactical entries and instead go for staggered buying via ETFs to manage volatility.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Nitin Narkhede your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
The data for individual weighted received premium (WRP) showed divergent trends for life insurers in December 2024. Overall, the industry's individual WRP grew 4.8 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y); LIC's individual WRP declined 13 per cent while private players saw 11.4 per cent growth.
'A staggered investment approach (using SIP or STP) can help investors benefit from this opportunity while reducing timing risk.'
The factor fund launch spree by mutual funds (MFs) is moving from the passive to the active space. Two new fund offerings (NFOs) - ICICI Pru Active Momentum Fund and Bandhan Multi-Factor Fund - are currently open for subscription. Sundaram MF's multi-factor fund NFO closed this Wednesday.
Young investors with a higher risk appetite are better off with a combination of term insurance and equity funds.
The 13th-month persistency rate of life insurers - an important metric indicating the retention of new policies - declined in the first quarter of 2025-26 (Q1FY26). This fall was primarily driven by a lower share of high-value policies, following taxation changes implemented in April 2023.
The 100-stock largecap basket of Mutual funds (MFs) has seen a major reshuffle in the latest semi-annual reclassification with seven midcap stocks and four new listings earning the largecap tag. According to a report from Nuvama Alternative & Quantitative Research, the midcap stocks that have been upgraded include CG Power, Rail Vikas Nigam, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, Polycab India, Indus Towers, Cummins India, and Info Edge.
Many high-profile IPOs in India since 2021 have destroyed investor wealth due to overvaluation, weak business models, and post-listing disinterest, turning 1 lakh investments into as little as 3,500.
Ask rediffGURU Naveenn Kummar your insurance mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Some of the key names include: Maruti, M&M, Ashok Leyland, Britannia, Ultratech, JK Cement, Havells, Voltas, Amber, Metro, Trent, LemonTree, Indian Hotels, Niva Bupa, HDFC Life, IGL, Acme Solar, Suzlon, Swiggy, Delhivery, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, Shriram Finance," according to a report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
