"I saw people my own age dying, which prompted me to get life insurance immediately," says Coutinho, a 24-year-old senior executive at a public relations agency in Mumbai. "The current pandemic has led to higher awareness around the need for financial protection and the inadequacy of the current insurance coverage," Niraj Shah, chief financial officer of HDFC Life Insurance, said. Since the start of the year the benchmark NSE Nifty 50 index has gained 13.5%, while shares in HDFC Life Insurance are up just over 2%, SBI Life Insurance has risen around 10% and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has climbed nearly 18%. But he added that high valuations and a rise in number of claims due to the first and second wave were a concern. Life insurance penetration among India's population stood at 2.82% in 2019, compared with 2.15% in 2001, the latest annual report from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority showed.

Source: bd News24 June 16, 2021 08:03 UTC