LIC Invests Rs 44,000 Crore In Equity Markets During April-November Period
LIC’s investments in the equity markets jumps 52% in April-November over the previous year.
The Life Insurance Corporation of India won’t buy aggressively in Indian equity markets for the rest of the current fiscal after investing Rs 44,000 crore between April-November this year.
“We don’t want to buy extra in equities, we are contrarians,” LIC Chairman VK Sharma told reporters today. “The market is at its peak. We will keep on doing routine sales and purchases of equities but we will not be aggressive in buying equities,” Sharma said.
LIC’s investment in the period rose 52 percent over the year-ago period. In the first half of the current fiscal, the life insurance major had more than doubled its investment in equities to Rs 39,224 crore from Rs 18,000 crore in the same period last fiscal. In FY16, LIC had invested Rs 47,000 crore into equities.
“This year the government’s disinvestment program has picked up pace in the first half, and as long-term investors, we have invested there,” Sharma said.
LIC has seen some dip in its income from investments in debt instruments due to falling interest rate scenario, he said, adding that it is aggressively booking profits to offset the decline in bonus with falling interest rates.
The company wants to invest more in the government securities to benefit policy holders and pensioners. “We would like the RBI to issue more long-dated securities. Our appetite for G-secs will be Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 crore for the coming four months of this fiscal,” Sharma said.
LIC’s Financial Highlights For The Six Months Ended September
- LIC’s first year premium grew 24 percent to Rs 68,224.29 crore.
- Total premium income grew 12 percent to Rs 1.48 lakh crore in the April-September period as against Rs 1.32 lakh crore collected during the corresponding period last year.
- Gross income registered a 13 percent growth to Rs 2,50,267 crore in the first half.
- Total assets stood at Rs 27.25 lakh crore, a growth of 14 percent.
- Total policy payouts amounted to Rs 76,126 crore as compared to Rs 73,546 crore in the year ago period.
(With inputs from PTI)