Ulips V/Smutual Funds free essay sample

PAPER ON A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MUTUAL FUNDS AND UNIT LINKED INSURANCE PLAN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY : In few years Mutual Fund has emerged as a tool for ensuring one’s financial well being. Mutual Funds have not only contributed to the India growth story but have also helped families tap into the success of Indian Industry. As information and awareness is rising more and more people are enjoying the benefits of investing in mutual funds. The main reason the number of retail mutual fund investors remains small is that nine in ten people with incomes in India do not know that mutual funds exist. But once people are aware of mutual fund investment opportunities, the number who decide to invest in mutual funds increases to as many as one in five people. The trick for converting a person with no knowledge of mutual funds to a new Mutual Fund customer is to understand which of the potential investors are more likely to buy mutual funds and to use the right arguments in the sales process that customers will accept as important and relevant to their decision. The analysis and advice presented in this Project Report is based on the study on the saving and investment practices of the investors and preferences of the investors for investment in Mutual Funds. This Report will help to know about the investors’ Preferences in Mutual Fund means Are they prefer any particular Asset Management Company (AMC), Which type of Product they prefer, Which Option (Growth or Dividend) they prefer or Which Investment Strategy they follow (Systematic Investment Plan or One time Plan). Further this project also talks about the investments made by people in unit linked insurance plan (ULIP). This project talks about the comparison between the mutual funds and the unit linked insurance plan. Here the preferences and choices of the investors has been analyzed and enhanced upon to know how investors plans to invest their money and in which financial product i. e mutual funds or ulips . | | OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY AND SCOPE . †¢ To study the various benefits and disadvantages of mutual funds and unit linked insurance plans. †¢ To study the various features of ULIPs and Mutual funds. To study the comparison between the mutual funds and ulips. LITERATURE REVIEW Literature on mutual fund performance evaluation is enormous. A few research studies that have Influenced the preparation of this paper substantially are discussed. Sharpe, William F. (1966) suggested a measure for the evaluation of portfolio performance. Drawing on results obtained in the field of portfolio analysis, Economist Jack L. Treynor has suggested a new predictor of mutual fund performance, one that differs from virtually all those used previously by incorporating the volatility of a funds return in a simple yet meaningful manner. Michael C. Jensen (1967) derived a risk-adjusted measure of portfolio performance (Jensen’s alpha) that estimates how much a manager’s forecasting ability contributes to fund’s returns. As indicated by Statman (2000), the e SDAR of a fund portfolio is the excess return of the portfolio over the return of the benchmark index, where the portfolio is leveraged to have the benchmark index’s standard deviation. S. Narayan Rao , evaluated performance of Indian mutual funds in a bear market through relative performance index, risk-return analysis, Treynor’s ratio, Sharpe’s ratio, Sharpe’s measure , Jensen’s measure, and Fama’s measure. The study used 269 open-ended schemes (out of total schemes of 433) for computing relative performance index. Then after excluding funds whose returns are less than risk-free returns, 58 schemes are finally used for further analysis. The results of performance measures suggest that most of mutual fund schemes in the sample of 58 were able to satisfy investor’s expectations by giving excess returns over expected returns based on both premium for systematic risk and total risk. Bijan Roy, et. al. , conducted an mpirical study on conditional performance of Indian mutual funds. This paper uses a technique called conditional performance evaluation on a sample of eighty-nine Indian mutual fund schemes . This paper measures the performance of various mutual funds with both unconditional and conditional form of CAPM, Treynor- Mazuy model and Henriksson-Merton model. The effect of incorporating lagged information variables into the evaluation of mutual fund managers’ performance is examined in the Indian context. The results suggest that the use of conditioning lagged information variables improves the performance of mutual fund schemes, causing alphas to shift towards right and reducing the number of negative timing coefficients. Mishra, et al. , (2002) measured mutual fund performance using lower partial moment. In this paper, measures of evaluating portfolio performance based on lower partial moment are developed. Risk from the lower partial moment is measured by taking into account only those states in which return is below a pre-specified â€Å"target rate† like risk-free rate. Kshama Fernandes(2003) evaluated index fund implementation in India. In this paper, tracking error of index funds in India is measured . The consistency and level of tracking errors obtained by some well-run index fund suggests that it is possible to attain low levels of tracking error under Indian conditions. At the same time, there do seem to be periods where certain index funds appear to depart from the discipline of indexation. K. Pendaraki et al. studied construction of mutual fund portfolios, developed a multi- criteria methodology and applied it to the Greek market of equity mutual funds. The methodology is based on the combination of discrete and continuous multi-criteria decision aid methods for mutual fund selection and composition. UTADIS multi-criteria decision aid method is employed in order to develop mutual fund’s performance models. Goal programming model is employed to determine proportion of selected mutual funds in the final portfolios. INTRODUCTION TO MUTUAL FUNDS: What is a Mutual fund? Mutual fund is an investment company that pools money from shareholders and invests in a variety of securities, such as stocks, bonds and money market instruments. Most open-end Mutual funds stand ready to buy back (redeem) its shares at their current net asset value, which depends on the total market value of the funds investment portfolio at the time of redemption. Most open-end Mutual funds continuously offer new shares to investors. Also known as an open-end investment company, to differentiate it from a closed-end investment company. Mutual funds invest pooled cashof many investors to meet the funds stated investment objective. Mutual funds stand ready to sell and redeem their shares at any time at the funds current net asset value: total fund assets divided by shares outstandinG pic] INVESTMENT FLOW. In Simple Words, Mutual fund is a mechanism for pooling the resources by issuing units to the investors and investing funds in securities in accordance with objectives as disclosed in offer document. Investments in securities are spread across a wide cross-section of industries and sectors and thus the risk is reduced. Diversification reduces the risk because all stocks may not move in the same direction in the same proportion at the same time. Mutual fund issues units to the investors in accordance with quantum of money invested by them. Investors of Mutual funds are known as unit holders. The profits or losses are shared by the investors in proportion to their investments. The Mutual funds normally come out with a number of schemes with different investment objectives which are launched from time to time. In India, A Mutual fund is required to be registered with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) which regulates securities markets before it can collect funds from the public. In Short, a Mutual fund is a common pool of money in to which investors with common investment objective place their contributions that are to be invested in accordance with the stated investment objective of the scheme. The investment manager would invest the money collected from the investor in to assets that are defined/ permitted by the stated objective of the scheme. For example, an equity fund would invest equity and equity related instruments and a debt fund would invest in bonds, debentures, gilts etc. Mutual fund is a suitable investment for the common man as it offers an opportunity to invest in a diversified, professionally managed basket of securities at a relatively low cost. Mutual fund is a trust that pools the savings of a number of investors who share a common financial goal. This pool of money is invested in accordance with a stated objective. The joint ownership of the fund is thus â€Å"Mutual†, i. e. the fund belongs to all investors. The money thus collected is then invested in capital market instruments such as shares, debentures and other securities. The income earned through these investments and the capital appreciations realized are shared by its unit holders in proportion the number of units owned by them. Thus a Mutual Fund is the most suitable investment for the common man as it offers an opportunity to invest in a diversified, professionally managed basket of securities at a relatively low cost. A Mutual Fund is an investment tool that allows small investors access to a well- diversified portfolio of equities, bonds and other securities. Each shareholder participates in the gain or loss of the fund. Units are issued and can be redeemed as needed. The fund’s Net Asset value (NAV) is determined each day. Investments in securities are spread across a wide cross-section of industries and sectors and thus the risk is reduced. Diversification reduces the risk because all stocks may not move in the same direction in the same proportion at the same time. Mutual fund issues units to the investors in accordance with quantum of money invested by them. Investors of mutual funds are known as unit holders CONCEPT OF MUTUAL FUNDS: [pic] INTRODUCTION Over the past decade, investors increasingly have turned to mutual funds to save for retirement and other financial goals. Mutual funds can offer the advantages of diversification and professional management. But, as with other investment choices, investing in mutual funds involves risk. And fees and taxes will diminish a funds returns. It pays to understand both the upsides and the downsides of mutual fund investing and how to choose products that match your goals and tolerance for risk. A mutual fund is a form of collective investment that pools money from many investors and invests their money in stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments, and/or other securities. In a mutual fund, the fund manager trades the funds underlying securities, realizing capital gains or losses, and collects the dividend or interest income. The investment proceeds are then passed along to the individual investors. The value of a share of the mutual fund, known as the net asset value per share (NAV), is calculated daily based on the total value of the fund divided by the number of shares currently issued and outstanding. Legally known as an open-end company under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the primary regulatory statute governing investment companies), a mutual fund is one of three basic types of investment companies available in the United States. Outside of the United States (with the exception of Canada, which follows the U. S. model), mutual fund is a generic term for various types of collective investment vehicle. In the United Kingdom and western Europe (including offshore jurisdictions), other forms of collective investment vehicle are prevalent, including unit trusts, open-ended investment companies (OEICs), SICAVs and unitized insurance funds. In Australia the term mutual fund is generally not used; the name managed fund is used instead. However, managed fund is somewhat generic as the definition of a managed fund in Australia is any vehicle in which investors money is managed by a third party (NB: usually an investment professional or organization). Most managed funds are open-ended (i. e. , there is no established maximum number of shares that can be issued); however, this need not be the case. Additionally the Australian government introduced a compulsory superannuation/pension scheme which, although strictly speaking a managed fund, is rarely identified by this term and is instead called a superannuation fund because of its special tax concessions and restrictions on when money invested in it can be accessed HISTORY Massachusetts Investors Trust was founded on March 21, 1924, and, after one year, had 200 shareholders and $392,000 in assets. The entire industry, which included a few closed-end funds, represented less than $10 million in 1924. The stock market crash of 1929 slowed the growth of mutual funds. In response to the stock market crash, Congress passed the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These laws require that a fund be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and provide prospective investors with a prospectus that contains required disclosures about the fund, the securities themselves, and fund manager. The SEC helped draft the Investment Company Act of 1940, which sets forth the guidelines with which all SEC-registered funds today must comply. With renewed confidence in the stock market, mutual funds began to blossom. By the end of the 1960s, there were approximately 270 funds with $48 billion in assets. The first retail index fund, the First Index Investment Trust, was formed in 1976 and headed by John Bogle, who conceptualized many of the key tenets of the industry in his 1951 senior thesis at Princeton University. It is now called the Vanguard 500 Index Fund and is one of the largest mutual funds ever with in excess of $100 billion in assets. One of the largest contributors of mutual fund growth was individual retirement account (IRA) provisions added to the Internal Revenue Code in 1975, allowing individuals (including those already in corporate pension plans) to contribute $2,000 a year. Mutual funds are now popular in employer-sponsored defined contribution retirement plans (401(k)s), IRAs and Roth IRAs. As of April 2006, there are 8,606 mutual funds that belong to the Investment Company Institute (ICI), the national association of investment companies in the United States, with combined assets of $9. 207 trillion. 1963 – 1987 |UTI sole player in the industry, created by an Act of Parliament ,1963 | | |UTI launches first product Unit Scheme 1964 | | |UTI creates products such as MIPs, children plans ,offshore funds etc | | |UTI managed assets of 6700 Cr at the end of this phase | |1987 – 1993 |In 1987 Public Sector Banks and FIs | | |SBI mutual fund was the first non -UTI mutual fund | | |UTIs corpus gr ew to Rs. 38,247 Cr public Sector Funds got Rs 8750 Cr | |1993 – 1996 |In 1993, Mutual Fund Industry was open to private players. | |SEBIs first set of regulations for the industry formulated in 1993 | | |Significant innovations, mostly initiated by private players | |1996 – 1999 |Implementation of new SEBI regulations led to rapid growth | | |Bank mutual funds were recast as per SEBI guidelines | | |UTI came under voluntary SEBI supervision. | |1999 – 2000 |Rapid growth, significant increase in corpus of private players | | |Tax break offered created arbitrage opportunities | | |Bond funds and liquid funds registered highest growth | | |UTIs market share drops to nearly 50% | MUTUAL FUNDS : FLOW CHART A Mutual Fund is a trust that pools the savings of a number of investors who share a common financial goal. The money thus collected is then invested in capital market instruments such as shares, debentures and other securities. The income earned through these investments and the capital appreciation realised are shared by its unit holders in proportion to the number of units owned by them. Thus a Mutual Fund is the most suitable investment for the common man as it offers an opportunity to invest in a diversified, professionally managed basket of securities at a relatively low cost. The flow chart below describes broadly the working of a mutual fund: Mutual Fund Operation Flow Chart MUTUAL FUNDS INDUSTRY IN INDIA: The origin of mutual fund industry in India is with the introduction of the concept of mutual fund by UTI in the year 1963. Though the growth was slow, but it accelerated from the year 1987 when non-UTI players entered the industry. In the past decade, Indian mutual fund industry had seen a dramatic imporvements, both qualitywise as well as quantitywise. Before, the monopoly of the market had seen an ending phase, the Assets Under Management (AUM) was Rs. 67bn. The private sector entry to the fund family rose the AUM to Rs. 470 bn in March 1993 and till April 2004, it reached the height of 1,540 bn. Putting the AUM of the Indian Mutual Funds Industry into comparison, the total of it is less than the deposits of SBI alone, constitute less than 11% of the total deposits held by the Indian banking industry. The main reason of its poor growth is that the mutual fund industry in India is new in the country. Large sections of Indian investors are yet to be intellectuated with the concept. Hence, it is the prime responsibility of all mutual fund companies, to market the product correctly abreast of selling. The mutual fund industry can be broadly put into four phases according to the development of the sector. Each phase is briefly described as follows: FIRST PHASE 1964-87 Unit Trust of India (UTI) was established on 1963 by an Act of Parliament. It was set up by the Reserve Bank of India and functioned under the Regulatory and administrative control of the Reserve Bank of India. In 1978 UTI was de-linked from the RBI and the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) took over the regulatory and administrative control in place of RBI. The first scheme launched by UTI was Unit Scheme 1964. At the end of 1988 UTI had Rs. 6,700 crores of assets under management SECOND PHASE 1987-1993 (Entry of Public Sector Funds) Entry of non-UTI mutual funds. SBI Mutual Fund was the first followed by Canbank Mutual Fund (Dec 87), Punjab National Bank Mutual Fund (Aug 89), Indian Bank Mutual Fund (Nov 89), Bank of India (Jun 90), Bank of Baroda Mutual Fund (Oct 92). LIC in 1989 and GIC in 1990. The end of 1993 marked Rs. 7,004 as assets under management. THIRD PHASE 1993-2003 (Entry of Private Sector Funds) With the entry of private sector funds in 1993, a new era started in the Indian mutual fund industry, giving the Indian investors a wid er choice of fund families. Also, 1993 was the year in which the first Mutual Fund Regulations came into being, under which all mutual funds, except UTI were to be registered and governed. The erstwhile Kothari Pioneer (now merged with Franklin Templeton) was the first private sector mutual fund registered in July 1993. The 1993 SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations were substituted by a more comprehensive and revised Mutual Fund Regulations in 1996. The industry now functions under the SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations 1996. The number of mutual fund houses went on increasing, with many foreign mutual funds setting up funds in India and also the industry has witnessed several mergers and acquisitions. As at the end of January 2003, there were 33 mutual funds with total assets of Rs. 1,21,805 crores. The Unit Trust of India with Rs. 44,541 crores of assets under management was way ahead of other mutual funds. FOURTH PHASE – SINCE FEBURARY2003 This phase had bitter experience for UTI. It was bifurcated into two separate entities. One is the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India with AUM of Rs. 29,835 crores (as on January 2003). The Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India, functioning under an administrator and under the rules framed by Government of India and does not come under the purview of the Mutual Fund Regulations. The second is the UTI Mutual Fund Ltd, sponsored by SBI, PNB, BOB and LIC. It is registered with SEBI and functions under the Mutual Fund Regulations. With the bifurcation of the erstwhile UTI which had in March 2000 more than Rs. 76,000 crores of AUM and with the setting up of a UTI Mutual Fund, conforming to the SEBI Mutual Fund Regulations, and with recent mergers taking place among different private sector funds, the mutual fund industry has entered its current phase of consolidation and growth [pic] SEBI REGISTERED MUTUAL FUNDS : 1. FORTIS Mutual fund 2. Alliance Capital Mutual fund, 3. AIG Global Investment Group Mutual fund 4. Benchmark Mutual fund, 5. Baroda Pioneer Mutual fund 6. Birla Mutual fund 7. Bharti AXA Mutual fund 8. Canara Robeco Mutual fund 9. CRB Mutual fund (Suspended) 10. DBS Chola Mutual fund, 11. Deutsche Mutual fund 12. DSP Blackrock Mutual fund, 13. Edelweiss Mutual fund 14. Escorts Mutual fund, 15. Franklin Templeton Mutual fund 16. Fidelity Mutual fund 17. Goldman Sachs Mutual fund 18. HDFC Mutual fund, 19. HSBC Mutual fund, 20. ICICI Securities Fund, 21. IL FS Mutual fund, 22. ING Mutual fund, 23. ICICI Prudential Mutual fund 24. IDFC Mutual fund, 25. JM Financial Mutual fund 26. JP Morgan Mutual fund 27. Kotak Mahindra Mutual fund, 29. LIC Mutual fund 31. Morgan Stanley Mutual fund 32. Mirae Asset Mutual fund 33. Principal Mutual fund 34. Quantum Mutual fund, 35. Reliance Mutual fund 36. Religare AEGON Mutual fund 37. Sahara Mutual fund 38. SBI Mutual fund 39. Shriram Mutual fund 40. Sundaram BNP Paribas Mutual fund, 41. Taurus Mutual fund 42. Tata Mutual fund, 43. UTI Mutual fund If the complaints remain unresolved, the investors may approach SEBI for facilitating redressal of their complaints. On receipt of complaints, SEBI takes up the matter with the concerned Mutual fund and follows up with it regularly. Investors may send their complaints to: SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE BOARD OF INDIA (SEBI) OFFICE OF INVESTOR ASSISTANCE AND EDUCATION (OIAE) EXCHANGE PLAZA, â€Å"G† BLOCK, 4TH FLOOR, BANDRA-KURLA COMPLEX, BANDRA (E), MUMBAI – 400 051. LEGAL STRUCTURE OF MUTUAL FUNDS IN INDIA: SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations, 1996 as amended till date define â€Å"mutual fund† as a fund established in the form of a trust to raise moneys through the sale of units to the public or a section of the public under one or more schemes for investing in securities including money market instruments or gold or gold related instruments or real estate assets. SEBI has stipulated the legal structure under which mutual funds in India need to be constituted. The structure, which has inherent checks and balances to protect the investors, can be briefly described as follows: †¢ Mutual funds are constituted as Trusts. †¢ The mutual fund trust is created by one or more Sponsors, who are the main persons behind the mutual fund business. †¢ Every trust has beneficiaries. The beneficiaries, in the case of a mutual fund trust, are the investors who invest in various schemes of the mutual fund. †¢ The operations of the mutual fund trust are governed by a Trust Deed, which is executed by the sponsors. SEBI has laid down various clauses that need to be part of the Trust Deed. †¢ The Trust acts through its trustees. Therefore, the role of protecting the beneficiaries (investors) is that of the Trustees. The first trustees are named in the Trust Deed, which also prescribes the procedure for change in Trustees. †¢ In order to perform the trusteeship role, either individuals may be appointed as trustees or a Trustee company may be appointed. When individuals are appointed trustees, they are jointly referred to as Board of Trustees. A trustee company functions through its Board of Directors. †¢ Day to day management of the schemes is handled by an Asset Management Company (AMC). The AMC is appointed by the sponsor or the Trustees. †¢ Although the AMC manages the schemes, custody of the assets of the scheme (securities, gold, gold? nd related instruments real estate assets) is with a Custodian, who is appointed by the Trustees. †¢ Investors invest in various schemes of the mutual fund. The record of investors and their unit? holding may be maintained by the AMC itself, or it can appoint a Registrar Transfer Agent (RTA). KEY PLAYERS OF MUTUAL FUNDS IN INDIA. SPONSORS The application to SEBI for registration of a mutual fund is made by the sponsor/s. Thereafter, the sponsor invests in the capital of the AMC. Since sponsors are the main people behind the mutual fund operation, eligibility criteria has been specified as follows: †¢ The sponsor should have a sound track record and reputation of fairness and integrity in all business transactions. The requirements are: †¢ Sponsor should be carrying on business in financial services for 5 years †¢ Sponsor should have positive net worth (share capital plus reserves minus accumulated losses) for each of those 5 years †¢ Latest net worth should be more than the amount that the sponsor contributes to the capital of the AMC †¢ The sponsor should have earned profits, after providing for depreciation and interest, in three of the previous five years, including the latest year. †¢ The sponsor should be a fit and proper person for this kind of operation. †¢ The sponsor needs to have a minimum 40% share holding in the capital of the AMC. Further, anyone who has more than 40% share holding in the AMC is considered to be a sponsor, and should therefore fulfill the eligibility criteria. TRUSTEE: The trustees have a critical role in ensuring that the mutual fund complies with all the regulations, and protects the interests of the unit? ]holders. As part of this role, they perform various kinds of General Due Diligence and Specific Due Diligence. The SEBI Regulations stipulate that: Every trustee has to be a person of ability, integrity and standing †¢ A person who is guilty of moral turpitude cannot be appointed trustee †¢ A person convicted of any economic offence or violation of any securities laws cannot be appointed as trustee Prior approval of SEBI needs to be taken, before a person is appointed as Trustee. The sponsor will have to appoint at least 4 trustees. If a trustee company has been appointed, then that company would need to have at least 4 directors on the Board. Further, at least two? ]thirds of the trustees / directors on the Board of the trustee company, would need to be Independent trustees i. e. not associated with the sponsor in any way. SEBI expects Trustees to perform a key role in ensuring legal compliances and protecting the interest of investors. Accordingly, various General Due Diligence and Special Due D iligence responsibilities have been assigned to them. The strict provisions go a long way in promoting the independence of the role of trusteeship in a mutual fund. AMC: Day to day operations of asset management are handled by the AMC. It therefore arranges for the requisite offices and infrastructure, engages employees, provides for the requisite software, handles advertising and sales promotion, and interacts with regulators and various service providers. The AMC has to take all reasonable steps and exercise due diligence to ensure that the investment of funds pertaining to any scheme is not contrary to the provisions of the SEBI Regulations and the trust deed. Further, it has to exercise due diligence and care in all its investment decisions. As per SEBI regulations: The directors of the asset management company need to be persons having adequate professional experience in finance and financial services related field †¢ The directors as well as key personnel of the AMC should not have been found guilty of moral turpitude or conv icted of any economic offence or violation of any Securities laws †¢ Key personnel of the AMC should not have worked for any asset management company or mutual fund or any intermediary during the period when its registration was suspended or cancelled at any time by SEBI. Prior approval of the trustees is required, before a person is Appointed as director on the board of the AMC. Further, at least 50% of the directors should be independent directors i. e. ot associate of or associated with the sponsor or any of its subsidiaries or the trustees. The AMC needs to have a minimum net worth of Rs10 crore. An AMC cannot invest in its own schemes, unless the intention to invest is disclosed in the Offer Document. Further, the AMC cannot charge any fees for the investment. The appointment of an AMC can be terminated by a majority of the trustees, or by 75% of the Unit? holders. However, any change in the AMC is subject to prior approval of SEBI and the Unit holders. Operations of AMCs are headed by a Managing Director, Executive Director or Chief Executive Officer. OTHER SERVICE PROVIDERS : CUSTODIAN: The custodian has custody of the assets of the fund. As part of this role, the custodian needs to accept and give delivery of securities for the purchase and sale transactions of the various schemes of the fund. The Custodian is appointed by the mutual fund. A custodial agreement is entered into between the trustees and the custodian. The SEBI regulations provide that if the sponsor or its associates control 50% or more of the shares of a custodian, or if 50% or more of the directors of a custodian represent the interest of the sponsor or its associates, then that custodian cannot appointed for the mutual fund operation of the sponsor or its associate or subsidiary company. An independent custodian ensures that the securities are indeed held in the scheme for the benefit of investors – an important control aspect. All custodians need to register with SEBI. RTA: The RTA maintains investor records. Their offices in various centres serve as Investor Service Centres (ISCs), which perform a useful role in handling the documentation of investors. The appointment of RTA is done by the AMC. It is not compulsory to appoint a RTA. The AMC can choose to handle this activity in house. All RTAs need to register with SEBI. AUDITORS: Auditors are responsible for the audit of accounts. Accounts of the schemes need to be maintained independent of the accounts of the AMC. The auditor appointed to audit the scheme accounts needs to be different from the auditor of the AMC. While the scheme auditor is appointed by the Trustees, the AMC auditor is appointed by the AMC. FUND ACCOUNTANTS: The fund accountant performs the role of calculating the NAV, by collecting information about the assets and liabilities of each scheme. The AMC can either handle this activity in house, or engage a service provider. DISTRIBUTORS : Distributors have a key role in selling suitable types of units to their clients i. e. the investors in the schemes. Distributors need to pass the prescribed certification test, and register with AMFI. COLLECTING BANKERS: The investors’ moneys go into the bank account of the scheme they have invested in. These bank accounts are maintained with collection bankers who are appointed by the AMC. Leading collection bankers make it convenient to invest in the schemes by accepting applications of investors in most of their branches. Payment instruments against applications handed over to branches of the AMC or the RTA need to be banked with the collecting bankers, so that the moneys are available for investment by the scheme. Through this kind of a mix of constituents and specialized service providers, most mutual funds maintain high standards of service and safety for investors. SOME FACTS FOR GROWTH OF MUTUAL FUNDS IN INDIA 100% growth in the last 6 years. Number of foreign AMCs are in the que to enter the Indian markets like Fidelity Investments, US based, with over US$1trillion assets under management worldwide. Our saving rate is over 23%, highest in the world. Only channelizing these savings in mutual funds sector is required. We have approximately 29 mutual funds which is much less than US having more than 800. There is a big scope for expansion. B and C class cities are growing rapidly. Today most of the mutual funds are concentrating on the A class cities. Soon they will find scope in the growing cities. Mutual fund can penetrate rurals like the Indian insurance industry with simple and limited products. SEBI allowing the MFs to launch commodity mutual funds. Emphasis on better corporate governance. Trying to curb the late trading practices. Introduction of Financial Planners who can provide need based advice. TYPES OF MUTUAL FUND SCHEMES IN INDIA: Wide variety of Mutual Fund Schemes exists to cater to the needs such as financial position, risk tolerance and return expectations etc. The table below gives an overview into the existing types of schemes in the Industry. TYPES OF MUTUAL FUNDS SCHEMES Mutual Funds can be classified into the following 4 broad categories: 1. Portfolio classification 2. Functional classification 3. Geographical classification 4. Structure and objective based classification How are mutual funds classified based on their portfolios? Portfolio classification of mutual funds is done on the following basis: †¢ GROWTH FUNDS: Investment objective: Capital appreciation of equity shares Investment avenue: Equity shares of companies with high growth potential For eg. Morgan Stanley Growth Fund †¢ INCOME FUNDS: Investment objective: Providing safety of investments and regular income Investment avenue: Bonds, debentures and other debt related instruments as well as equity shares of companies with high dividend payouts. There are 2 aspects of income funds viz. ow investment risk with constant income and high investment risk generating high income. For eg. Templeton Income Fund †¢ BALANCED FUNDS : Investment objective: Modest risk of investment and reasonable rate of return Investment avenue: Judicious mix of equity shares, preference shares as well as bonds, debentures and other debt related instruments. F or eg. GIC Balanced Fund †¢ MONEY MARKET MUTUAL FUNDS (MMMFs) Investment objective: To take advantage of the volatility in interest rates in the money market Investment Avenue: Certificate of deposits (CDs), call money market, commercial papers. Investors can participate indirectly in the money market through MMMFs. For eg. IDBI-PRINCIPAL Money Market Fund 1997 †¢ SPECIALISED FUNDS Investment Objective: To take advantage of conditions in a particular sector or a specific income producing security Investment Avenue: Specialised investments in securities of companies in certain sectors or specific income producing securities For eg. Kothari Pioneers Internet Opportunities Fund †¢ LEVERAGED FUNDS: Investment objective: To increase the value of the portfolio and benefit the shareholders by gains exceeding the cost of borrowed funds. †¢ INDEX FUNDS: Investment Objective: To increase the value of the portfolio in line with the benchmark index (for eg. BSE Sensex, SP CNX 50) Investment Avenue: Investments only in those shares that form a part of the benchmark index, in exactly the same proportion, so that the value of the index fund varies in proportion with the benchmark index. For e. g. UTI Nifty Index Fund †¢ HEDGE FUNDS: Investment Objective: To hedge risks in order to increase the value of the portfolio Investment Avenue: Employ speculative trading principles buy rising shares and sell shares whose prices are likely to fall. Not common in India How are mutual funds classified functionally? Functional classification of mutual funds is done on the following basis: †¢ OPEN ENDED SCHEME: Investors under this scheme are free to join the fund or withdraw from the fund at any time after an initial lock-in period. Such funds announce sale and repurchase prices from time to time. In an open-ended scheme, investors can resell units in the fund to the issuing mutual fund at the net asset value (NAV) of the units. This is because open-ended schemes are permitted to buy/sell their own units. For e. g. Alliance Capital 1995 Fund †¢ CLOSE ENDED SCHEME: Unlike the open-ended schemes, close-ended schemes do not issue units for repurchase redemption on a periodic basis. Its units can be redeemed only on termination of the scheme, or through dealings in the secondary market. In such schemes, the period of the scheme is specified at the outset. They have a definite target amount for the funds and cannot sell more after initial offering. For eg. UTI Master gain 1986 HOW ARE MUTUAL FUNDS CLASSIFIED GEOGRAPHICALLY? Mutual funds can be classified geographically on the following basis: †¢ DOMESTIC FUNDS: Domestic fund houses launch funds, which mobilise savings of the nationals within the country. These schemes could fall under any of the categories mentioned under portfolio classification and functional classification. Schemes launched by Indian MFs like GIC MF, UTI LIC MF, SBI MF, Canbank MF, Bank of Baroda MF, Bank of India MF, Morgan Stanley, Templeton, Alliance. †¢ OFFSHORE FUNDS: Offshore funds can invest in securities of foreign companies, after requisite permission from RBI. The objective behind launching offshore funds is to attract foreign capital for investment in the country of the issuing company. These funds facilitate cross border fund flow, which is a direct route for getting foreign currency. From the investment point of view, Offshore funds open up domestic capital markets to the international investors and global portfolio investments. What are the different plans that mutual funds offer? Mutual Funds in order to cater to a range of investors, have various investment plans. Some of the important investment plans include: †¢ GROWTH PLAN: Under the Growth Plan, the investor realises only the capital appreciation on the investment (by an increase in NAV) and does not get any income in the form of dividend. †¢ INCOME PLAN: Under the Income Plan, the investor realises income in the form of dividend. However his NAV will fall to the extent of the dividend. †¢ DIVIDEND RE-INVESTMENT PLAN: Here the dividend accrued on mutual funds is automatically re-invested in purchasing additional units in open-ended funds. In most cases mutual funds offer the investor an option of collecting dividends or re-investing the same. †¢ RETIREMENT PLAN Some schemes are linked with retirement pension. Individuals participate in these plans for themselves, and corporates for their employees. †¢ INSURANCE PLAN Some schemes launched by UTI and LIC offer insurance cover to investors. fixed date of a month. Payment is made through post dated cheques or direct debit facilities. The investor gets fewer units when the NAV is high and more units when the NAV is low. This is called as the benefit of Rupee Cost Averaging (RCA) STRUCTURAL AND OBJECTIVE BASED CLASSIFICATION †¢ Closed-end funds †¢ Open-end funds †¢ Large cap funds †¢ Mid-cap funds †¢ Equity funds †¢ Balanced funds †¢ Growth funds †¢ No load funds †¢ Exchange traded funds †¢ Value funds †¢ Money market funds †¢ International mutual funds †¢ Regional mutual funds †¢ Sector funds †¢ Index funds †¢ Fund of funds OPEN ENDED MUTUAL FUNDS: An open-end mutual fund is a fund that does not have a set number of shares. It continues to sell shares to investors and will buy back shares when investors wish to sell. Units are bought and sold at their current net asset value. Open-end funds keep some portion of their assets in short-term and money market securities to provide available funds for redemptions. A large portion of most open mutual funds is invested in highly liquid securities, which enables the fund to raise money by selling securities at prices very close to those used for valuations. CLOSED – END MUTUAL FUNDS: A closed-end mutual fund has a set number of shares issued to the public through an initial public offering. These funds have a stipulated maturity period generally ranging from 3 to 15 years Once underwritten, closed-end funds trade on stock exchanges like stocks or bonds. The market price of closed-end funds is determined by supply and demand and not by net-asset value (NAV), as is the case in open-end funds. Usually closed mutual funds trade at discounts to their underlying asset value. LARGE CAP FUNDS Large cap funds are those mutual funds, which seek capital appreciation by investing primarily in stocks of large blue chip companies with above-average prospects for earnings growth. Different mutual funds have different criteria for classifying companies as large cap. Generally, companies with a market capitalisation in excess of Rs 1000 crore are known large cap companies. Investing in large caps is a lower risk-lower return proposition (vis-a-vis mid cap stocks), because such companies are usually widely researched and information is widely available MID CAP FUNDS: Mid cap funds are those mutual funds, which invest in small / medium sized companies. As there is no standard definition classifying companies as small or medium, each mutual fund has its own classification for small and medium sized companies. Generally, companies with a market capitalization of up to Rs 500 crore are classified as small. Those companies that have a market capitalization between Rs 500 crore and Rs 1,000 crore are classified as medium sized. Big investors like mutual funds and Foreign Institutional Investors are increasingly investing in mid caps nowadays because the price of large caps has increased substantially. Small / mid sized companies tend to be under researched thus they present an opportunity to invest in a company that is yet to be identified by the market. Such companies offer higher growth potential going forward and therefore an opportunity to benefit from higher than average valuations. But mid cap funds are very volatile and tend to fall like a pack of cards in bad times. So, caution should be exercised while investing in mid cap mutual funds. EQUITY MUTUAL FUNDS: Equity mutual funds are also known as stock mutual funds. Equity mutual funds invest pooled amounts of money in the stocks of public companies. Stocks represent part ownership, or equity, in companies, and the aim of stock ownership is to see the value of the companies increase over time. Stocks are often categorized by their market capitalization (or caps), and can be classified in three basic sizes: small, medium, and large. Many mutual funds invest primarily in companies of one of these sizes and are thus classified as large-cap,mid-cap or small-cap funds. Equity fund managers employ different styles of stock picking when they make investment decisions for their portfolios. Some fund managers use a value pproach to stocks, searching for stocks that are undervalued when compared to other, similar companies. Another approach to picking is to look primarily at growth, trying to find stocks that are growing faster than their competitors, or the market as a whole. Some managers buy both kinds of stocks, building a portfolio of both growth and value stocks. BALANCED FUNDS: Balanced fund is also known as hybrid fund. It is a type of mutual fund that buys a combination of common stock, preferred stock, bonds, and short-term bonds, to provide both income and capital Balanced funds provide investor with an option of single mutual fund that combines both growth and income objectives, by investing in both stocks (for growth) and bonds (for income). Such diversified holdings ensure that these funds will manage downturns in the stock market without too much of a loss. But on the flip side, balanced funds will usually increase less than an all-stock fund during a bull market. GROWTH FUNDS: Growth funds are those mutual funds that aim to achieve capital appreciation by investing in growth stocks. They focus on those companies, which are experiencing significant earnings or revenue growth, rather than companies that pay out dividends. Growth funds tend to look for the fastest-growing companies in the market. Growth managers are willing to take more risk and pay a premium for their stocks in an effort to build a portfolio of companies with above-average earnings momentum or price appreciation. In general, growth funds are more volatile than other types of funds, rising more than other funds in bull markets and falling more in bear markets. Only aggressive investors, or those with enough time to make up for short-term market losses, should buy these funds. NO –LOAD MUTUAL FUNDS: Mutual funds can be classified into two types Load mutual funds and No-Load mutual funds. Load funds are those funds that charge commission at the time of purchase or redemption. They can be further subdivided into (1) Front-end load funds and (2) Back-end load funds. Front-end load funds charge commission at the time of purchase and back-end load funds charge commission at the time of redemption. On the other hand, no-load funds are those funds that can be purchased without commission. No load funds have several advantages over load funds. Firstly, funds with loads, on average, consistently underperform no-load funds when the load is taken into consideration in performance calculations. Secondly, loads understate the real commission charged because they reduce the total amount being invested. Finally, when a load fund is held over a long time period, the effect of the load, if paid up front, is not diminished because if the money paid for the load had invested, as in a no-load fund, it would have been compounding over the whole time period. EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS: Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) represent a basket of securities that are traded on an exchange. An exchange traded fund is similar to an index fund in that it will primarily invest in the securities of companies that are included in a selected market index. An ETF will invest in either all of the securities or a representative sample of the securities included in the index. The investment objective of an ETF is to achieve the same return as a particular market index Exchange traded funds rely on an arbitrage mechanism to keep the prices at which they trade roughly in line with the net asset values of their underlying portfolios. VALUE FUNDS: Value funds are those mutual funds that tend to focus on safety rather than growth, and often choose investments providing dividends as well as capital appreciation. They invest in companies that the market has overlooked, and stocks that have fallen out of favour with mainstream investors, either due to changing investor preferences, a poor quarterly earnings report, or hard times in a particular industry. Value stocks are often mature companies that have stopped growing and that use their earnings to pay dividends. Thus value funds produce current income (from the dividends) as well as long-term growth (from capital appreciation once the stocks become popular again). They tend to have more conservative and less volatile returns than growth funds. MONEY MARKET MUTUAL FUNDS: A money market fund is a mutual fund that invests solely in money market instruments. Money market instruments are forms of debt that mature in less than one year and are very liquid. Treasury bills make up the bulk of the money market instruments. Securities in the money market are relatively risk-free. Money market funds are generally the safest and most secure of mutual fund investments. The goal of a money-market fund is to preserve principal while yielding a modest return. Money-market mutual fund is akin to a high-yield bank account but is not entirely risk free. When investing in a money-market fund, attention should be paid to the interest rate that is being offered. INTERNATIONAL MUTUAL FUNDS: International mutual funds are those funds that invest in non-domestic securities markets throughout the world. Investing in international markets provides greater portfolio diversification and let you capitalize on some of the worlds best opportunities. If investments are chosen carefully, international mutual fund may be profitable when some markets are rising and others are declining. However, fund managers need to keep close watch on foreign currencies and world markets as profitable investments in a rising market can lose money if the foreign currency rises against the dollar. REGIONAL MUTUAL FUNDS: Regional mutual fund is a mutual fund that confines itself to investments in securities from a specified geographical area, usually, the funds local region. A regional mutual fund generally looks to own a diversified portfolio of companies based in and operating out of its specified geographical area. The objective is to take advantage of regional growth potential before the national investment community does. Regional funds select securities that pass geographical criteria. For the investor, the primary benefit of a regional fund is that he/she increases his/her diversification by being exposed to a specific foreign geographical area. SECTOR MUTUAL FUND: Sector mutual funds are those mutual funds that restrict their investments to a particular segment or sector of the economy. These funds concentrate on one industry such as infrastructure, heath care, utilities, pharmaceuticals etc. The idea is to allow investors to place bets on specific industries or sectors, which have strong growth potential. These funds tend to be more volatile than funds holding a diversified portfolio of securities in many industries. Such concentrated portfolios can produce tremendous gains or losses, depending on whether the chosen sector is in or out of favour. INDEX MUTUAL FUNDS: An index fund is a type of mutual fund that builds its portfolio by buying stock in all the companies of a particular index and thereby reproducing the performance of an entire section of the market. The most popular index of stock index funds is the Standard Poors 500. An SP 500 stock index fund owns 500 stocks-all the companies that are included in the index. Investing in an index fund is a form of passive investing. Passive investing has two big advantages over active investing. First, a passive stock market mutual fund is much cheaper to run than an active fund. Second, a majority of mutual funds fail to beat broad indexes such as the SP 500. FUND OF FUNDS: A fund of funds is a type of mutual fund that invests in other mutual funds. Just as a mutual fund invests in a number of different securities, a fund of funds holds shares of many different mutual funds. Fund of funds are designed to achieve greater diversification than traditional mutual funds. But on the flipside, expense fees on fund of funds are typically higher than those on regular funds because they include part of the expense fees charged by the underlying funds. Also, since a fund of funds buys many different funds which themselves invest in many different stocks, it is possible for the fund of funds to own the same stock through several different funds and it can be difficult to keep track of the overall holdings. ADVANTAGES OF MUTUAL FUNDS: The advantages of investing in a Mutual Fund are: Diversification: The best mutual funds design their portfolios so individual investments will react differently to the same economic conditions. For example, economic conditions like a rise in interest rates may cause certain securities in a diversified portfolio to decrease in value. Other securities in the portfolio will respond to the same economic conditions by increasing in value. When a portfolio is balanced in this way, the value of the overall portfolio should gradually increase over time, even if some securities lose value. Professional Management: Most mutual funds pay topflight professionals to manage their investments. These managers decide what securities the fund will buy and sell. Regulatory oversight: Mutual funds are subject to many government regulations that protect investors from fraud. Liquidity: Its easy to get your money out of a mutual fund. Write a check, make a call, and youve got the cash. Convenience: You can usually buy mutual fund shares by mail, phone, or over the Internet. Low cost: Mutual fund expenses are often no more than 1. 5 percent of your investment. Expenses for Index Funds are less than that, because index funds are not actively managed. Instead, they automatically buy stock in companies that are listed on a specific index Transparency Flexibility Choice of schemes Tax benefits Well regulated DISADVANTAGES OF MUTUAL FUNDS: Mutual funds have their drawbacks and may not be for everyone: No Guarantees: No investment is risk free. If the entire stock market declines in value, the value of mutual fund shares will go down as well, no matter how balanced the portfolio. Investors encounter fewer risks when they invest in mutual funds than when they buy and sell stocks on their own. However, anyone who invests through a mutual fund runs the risk of losing money. Fees and commissions: All funds charge administrative fees to cover their day-to-day expenses. Some funds also charge sales commissions or loads to compensate brokers, financial consultants, or financial planners. Even if you dont use a broker or other financial adviser, you will pay a sales commission if you buy shares in a Load Fund. Taxes: During a typical year, most actively managed mutual funds sell anywhere from 20 to 70 percent of the securities in their portfolios. If your fund makes a profit on its sales, you will pay taxes on the income you receive, even if you reinvest the money you made. Management risk: When you invest in a mutual fund, you depend on the funds manager to make the right decisions regarding the funds portfolio. If the manager does not perform as well as you had hoped, you might not make as much money on your investment as you expected. Of course, if you invest in Index Funds, you forego management risk, because these funds do not employ managers. ASSOCIATION OF MUTUAL FUNDS IN INDIA (AMFI) With the increase in mutual fund players in India, a need for mutual fund association in India was generated to function as a non-profit organization. Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) was incorporated on 22nd August, 1995. AMFI is an apex body of all Asset Management Companies (AMC) which has been registered with SEBI. Till date all the AMCs are that have launched mutual fund schemes are its members. It functions under the supervision and guidelines of its Board of Directors. Association of Mutual Funds India has brought down the Indian Mutual Fund Industry to a professional and healthy market with ethical lines enhancing and maintaining standards. It follows the principle of both protecting and promoting the interests of mutual funds as well as their unit holders. THE OBJECTIVES OF AMFI The Association of Mutual Funds of India works with 30 registered AMCs of the country. It has certain defined objectives which juxtaposes the guidelines of its Board of Directors. The objectives are as follows: This mutual fund association of India maintains a high professional and ethical standards in all areas of operation of the industry. It also recommends and promotes the top class business practices and code of conduct which is followed by members and related people engaged in the activities of mutual fund and asset management. The agencies who are by any means connected or involved in the field of capital markets and financial services also involved in this code of conduct of the association. AMFI interacts with SEBI and works according to SEBIs guidelines in the mutual fund industry. Association of Mutual Fund of India does represent the Government of India, the Reserve Bank of India and other related bodies on matters relating to the Mutual Fund Industry. It develops a team of well qualified and trained Agent distributors. It implements a programme of training and certification for all intermediaries and other engaged in the mutual fund industry. AMFI undertakes all India awareness programme for investors in order to promote proper understanding of the concept and working of mutual funds. At last but not the least association of mutual fund of India also disseminate information’s on Mutual Fund Industry and undertakes studies and research either directly or in association with other bodies. PROCEDURE FOR REGISTERING A MUTUAL FUND WITH SEBI An applicant proposing to sponsor a Mutual fund in India must submit an application in Form A along with a fee of Rs. 25, 000. The application is examined and once the sponsor satisfies certain conditions such as being in the financial services business and possessing positive net worth for the last five years, having net profit in three out of the last five years and possessing the general reputation of fairness and integrity in all business transactions, it is required to complete the remaining formalities for setting up a Mutual fund. These include inter alia, executing the trust deed and investment management agreement, setting up a trustee company/board of trustees comprising two- thirds independent trustees, incorporating the asset management company (AMC), contributing to at least 40% of the net worth of the AMC and appointing a custodian. Upon satisfying these conditions, the registration certificate is issued subject to the payment of registration fees of Rs. 25. 00 lacs for details; see the SEBI (Mutual funds) Regulations, 1996. [pic] INTRODUCTION TO INSURANCE ORIGIN OF INSURANCE: Almost 4,500 years ago, in the ancient land of Babylonia, traders used to bear risk of the caravan trade by giving loans that had to be later repaid with interest when the goods arrived safely. In 2100 BC, the Code of Hammurabi granted legal status to the practice. This is how insurance made its beginning. Life insurance had its origins in ancient Rome, where citizens formed burial clubs that would meet the funeral expenses of its members as well as help survivors by making some payments. As European civilization progressed, its social institutions and welfare practices also got more and more refined. With the discovery of new lands, sea routes and the consequent growth in trade, medieval guilds took it upon themselves to protect their member traders from loss on account of fire, shipwrecks and the like. Since most of the trade took place by sea, there was also the fear of pirates. So these guilds even offered ransom for members held captive by pirates. Burial expenses and support in times of sickness and poverty were other services offered. All these revolved around the concept of insurance or risk coverage. In 1347, in Genoa, European maritime nations entered into the earliest known insurance contract and decided to accept marine insurance as a practice. The first step Insurance owes its existence to 17th century England. In fact, it began taking shape in 1688 at a place called Lloyds Coffee House in London, where merchants, ship-owners and underwriters met to discuss and transact business. By the end of the 18th century, Lloyds had brewed enough business to become one of the first modern insurance companies. DEVELOPMENT OF INSURANCE SECTOR Back to the 17th century, astronomer Edmond Halley constructed the first mortality table to provide a link between the life insurance premium and the average life spans based on statistical laws of mortality and compound interest. In 1756, Joseph Dodson reworked the table, linking premium rate to age. COMPANIES INTO INSURANCE†¦ The first stock companies to get into the business of insurance were chartered in England in 1720. The year 1735 saw the birth of the first insurance company in the American colonies in Charleston, SC. In 1759, the Presbyterian Synod of Philadelphia sponsored the first life insurance corporation in America for the benefit of ministers and their dependents. THE GROWING YEARS. The 19th century saw huge developments in the field of insurance, with newer products being devised to meet the growing needs of urbanization and industrialization. In 1835, the infamous New York fire drew peoples attention to the need to provide for sudden and large losses. Two years later, Massachusetts became the first state to require companies by law to maintain such reserves. The great Chicago fire of 1871 further emphasized how fires can cause huge losses in densely populated modern cities. The practice of reinsurance, wherein the risks are spread among several companies, was devised specifically for such situations. There were more offshoots of the process of industrialization. In 1897, the British government passed the Workmens Compensation Act, which made it mandatory for a company to insure its employees against industrial accidents. With the advent of the automobile, public liability insurance, this first made its appearance in 1880s, gained importance and acceptance. In the 19th century, many societies were founded to insure the life and health of their members, while fraternal orders provided low-cost, members-only insurance. INSURANCE IN INDIA Insurance in India can be traced back to the Vedas. For instance, yogakshema, the name of Life Insurance Corporation of Indias corporate headquarters, is derived from the Rig Veda. The term suggests that a form of community insurance was prevalent around 1000 BC and practiced by the Aryans. Burial societies of the kind found in ancient Rome were formed in the Buddhist period to help families build houses, protect widows and children. Bombay Mutual Assurance Society, the first Indian life assurance society, was formed in 1870. Other companies like Oriental, Bharat and Empire of India were also set up in the 1870-90s. It was during the swadeshi movement in the early 20th century that insurance witnessed a big boom in India with several more companies being set up. As these companies grew, the government began to exercise control on them. The Insurance Act was passed in 1912, followed by a detailed and amended Insurance Act of 1938 that looked into investments, expenditure and management of these companies funds. By the mid-1950s, there were around 170 insurance companies and 80 provident fund societies in the countrys life insurance scene. However, in the absence of regulatory systems, scams and irregularities were almost a way of life at most of these companies. As a result, the government decided nationalise the life assurance business in India. The Life Insurance Corporation of India was set up in 1956 to take over around 250 life companies. For years thereafter, insurance remained a monopoly of the public sector. It was only after seven years of debate after the RN Malhotra Committee report of 1994 became the first serious document calling for the re-opening up of the insurance sector to private players, that the sector was finally opened up to private players in 2001. The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority, an autonomous insurance regulator set up in 2000, has extensive powers to oversee the insurance business and regulate in a manner that will safeguard the interests of the insured. LIFE INSURANCE MEANING Life insurance is a contract for payment of a sum of money to the person assured (or failing him/her, to the person entitled to receive the same) on the happening of the event insured against. Usually the contra