With a massive population base and huge untapped and under-penetrated market, the insurance industry is home to tremendous opportunity in India as well as foreign investors. India today is the fifth largest life insurance market amongst the emerging insurance economies globally and has grown at 25 per cent CAGR since the market opened up for private players in 2000.
This impressive growth in the market has been driven by fundamental factors like liberalization, global economic boom, young population, growing middle class, rising income levels and customer awareness.
While in the beginning of 2010, life insurance companies witnessed a 20 per cent jump in weighted new business premium according to a data released by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), the year also ushered sweeping regulatory changes that altered the way industry worked. It marked significant changes in product profile of unit-linked insurance plans that capped the overall charges and also imposed a minimum prescribed return in order to offer a better deal to investors.
Source : Indian Express
