Max New York Life to invest $609 million in India

Lucknow:While launching a unit-linked pension plan, Max New York Life Insurance disclosed plans to invest Rs 24 billion ($609 million) in the country over the next four years.

Max's regional manager Anil Misra told IANS, "We have drawn up a blueprint to invest Rs.24 billion in expanding our base and network across the country over the next four years."

The new scheme follows the company's success with selling over 1.9 million policies across the country through its 29,000 agents, with more than Rs 54 billion in sum assured.

"Smart Invest Pension is structured to plan and meet up with retirement needs of the evolving Indian consumer, who is faced with the twin risks of longevity and inflation after retirement, when simple saving instruments do not suffice to meet one's needs," said Misra in a press release here Wednesday.

Misra said: "Smart Invest enables the customer to enter the plan at a lower premium and subsequently keep increasing the premium by five percent of the initial premium every year over the policy term. This ensures that the customer is able to start retirement planning early and reach retirement goals in a smoother way based on life stages and income."

In case the customer decides to change to level or fixed premium, he has the flexibility to do so after the policy completes three years, by informing the company and can continue payment of fixed premium every year, he said.

The minimum annual premium allowed in the policy is Rs 10,000 under regular pay and Rs 150,000 under single pay. There are multiple premium bands and, as the customer decides to pay a higher premium, the allocation charge reduces.

To help customers better understand and manage their needs, the company has developed a special training programme for its agent advisors and employees.

"Our trained and certified agent advisors, through their quality of advice, will ensure that the customers understand benefits of the plans and ensure an appropriate balance between protection, investment and liquidity needs based on their life stages," the release added.