In conjunction with the "Far from home" feature appearing in the January 2013 print issue on life insurance sales in emerging market countries, NUL Senior Editor Warren S. Hersch questioned insurance professionals from several of these nations about their practices. The following are written responses from Dinesh Tater, the chief financial planning advisor at Aviva Life Insurance Company India Ltd., based in Chennai, India.
Hersch: How would you describe your life insurance/financial service practice? What are your areas of expertise? Whom do you serve?
Tater: Life insurance servicing is like helping various people reach their desired goals in a planned manner. My prime area of expertise includes financial as well as life planning for investors. I serve every strata of the society.
Hersch: How would you assess the current market for life insurance and annuities in India? Is the market growing or contracting?
Tater: There is a huge potential for life insurance and annuities in India. While the life insurance market has been more vibrant, the annuities market is the market of future.
The financial market grew for about a decade but has contracted a bit due to regulatory changes. Pension policies have not been sold for about a year due to a change in product norms. They only account for approximately 30 percent of the market. However they are making a comeback now.
Hersch: Which life insurance and annuities products are selling well in your practice?
Tater: I am involved in selling ULIPs—unit linked insurance plans—term plans and deferred annuity. ULIPs cater to various desired goals of the insured, which are more transparent and can be modified according to one's individual plan.
Hersch: Which life insurance-funded techniques (to be used, for example, in estate planning, business succession planning, executive compensation planning or retirement planning) are especially popular among your clients.
Tater: It is mostly retirement planning. Many of the more evolved techniques are not popular.
Hersch: What regulatory, legislative and business challenges do you face in India? How do these challenges affect your practice?
Tater: The frequent changes in regulatory norms and product guidelines in the last two years have impacted industry sales. They have not, however, impacted my business much because I have built a steady stream of references and good word-of-mouth referrals.
Hersch: How are you adapting your practice to meet these challenges and grow your business?
Tater: I am meeting these challenges by updating myself on a daily basis on the current market scenario and implementing the changes with immediate effect.
Hersch: What financial goals and objectives have you established for your practice in 2013? How confident are you that you can reach these goals and objectives?
Tater: I'm working on becoming a Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) Top of the Table (TOT) member every year and I am confident that I will achieve that goal.
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