Premium guarantee, immediate annuity products from ICICI Prudential Life

Mumbai: Market leader in private life insurance ICICI Prudential Life Insurance today announced the launch of two new products aimed at offering greater security to investors and retirees alike. One product is a premium guarantee market-linked plan which ensures that an investor gets only the benefits of the upsides of the market, without incurring any loss if the markets go down; and the other is an immediate annuity product that offers a guaranteed income for life, for retired people above 45 years of age.

The first-of-its-kind premium guarantee product in the Indian life insurance industry, InvestShield Life - New, offers retail investors the opportunity for long-term capital appreciation through exposure to the markets, while protecting them from any capital erosion.

Announcing the ptoduct, N S Kannan, executive director, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance said, "The majority of Indian investors prefer to save through traditional instruments as they do not want to risk their hard-earned monies by investing in the stock markets. However, many of them have seen their friends and colleagues earn good returns by investing in the markets and are looking for a low-risk opportunity to do so themselves. The premium guarantee product is the ideal market entry product for such traditional investors, who do not wish to risk their capital while investing in the markets".

InvestShield Life - New is a long-term, investment-cum-insurance plan that invests in balanced funds with 40 per cent exposure to equity. This provides conservative investors a safe means to experiment with equity, and yet promises that the policyholder will not lose any of his invested money, should the markets go down.

The product is available for a minimum premium of Rs8,000 per year for a policy term ranging between 10 and 30 years. On maturity, the higher of the fund value and guarantee value is paid to the policyholder. In the event of death, the policyholder's nominees receive the sum assured plus the higher of the fund value and guarantee value (total premium paid);

The other product, Immediate Annuity, is aimed at providing retirees with a stable and secure income for life.