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SOLAR study finds Indians look for a long working life.
Birla Sun Life Insurance to design plans based on SOLAR findings
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Mumbai, Sept 8, 2008 –
Birla Sun Life Insurance, one of the leading life insurance player, is
innovating the way it does business by using the findings of an
Asia-wide study commissioned by Sun Life Financial to develop a
strategy for needs-based retirement products. The study, known as the
Study of Lifestyles Attitudes and Relationships (SOLAR) revealed that
attitudes toward retirement vary widely across Asia. Indians for
instance view long term as more than 10 years, while those in China
define long term as anywhere between five and 10 years. Sun
Life Financial, one of the leading worldwide financial services
provider, commissioned SOLAR in Asia to learn more about the rapidly
changing attitudes and concerns of consumers in China, India,
Philippines, Indonesia and Hong Kong. SOLAR looked into a range of
issues including people’s outlook on life, Life cycle financial
planning, expectations from financial service providers and thoughts on
retirement. Based on these findings, the company and its joint venture,
Birla Sun Life, formulated product strategies designed to meet consumer
needs.
Some of the interesting findings of the survey are:
Outlook on Retirement
India vs China
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Only 22% of Chinese think that long term is 10 years or more, compared to 78% of Indians surveyed. |
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While
Indians see themselves retiring in their early 60s, Chinese see
themselves retiring in their early 50’s, which is aligned with thinking
among those surveyed in the other countries. |
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In India only 36% view their retirement as a time to enjoy leisure, while in China, this figure is as high as 55%. |
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Corpus
required for retirement: Indians estimate this to be 100 times monthly
household income at the time of retiring, Chinese estimate this to be
165 times monthly household income, and the rest of Asia estimates this
to be even higher |
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In India and Philippines the provision for health coverage after retirement is low.
In China and Hong Kong it is high.
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“There is significant opportunity for the life insurance pension
business in India,” said Mr Venkatesh Mysore- SLF- Country Head India
“The size of this segment in the last fiscal year was Rs 11,600 cr. and
growth rate was 150%. At our Joint Venture, Birla Sun Life Insurance,
we have plans to enter the segment with retirement products aimed at
fulfilling the needs of this vast market, using SOLAR as the a key
element in our product development strategy.”
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| About Birla Sun Life Insurance |
Birla
Sun Life Insurance Company Limited is a joint venture between The
Aditya Birla Group, one of the largest business houses in India and Sun
Life Financial Inc., a leading international financial services
organization. The local knowledge of the Aditya Birla Group combined
with the expertise of Sun Life Financial Inc., offers a formidable
protection for your future.
Birla
Sun Life Insurance (BSLI) has completed 7 successful years of
operations & has contributed significantly to the growth and
development of the life insurance industry in India. It pioneered the
launch of Unit Linked Life Insurance plans amongst the private players
in India. It was the first player in the industry to sell its policies
through the Bancassurance route and through the Internet. It was the
first private sector player to introduce a pure Term plan in the Indian
market. This was supported by sales practices, which brought a degree
of transparency that was entirely new to the market. The process of
getting sales illustrations signed by customers, offering a free look
period on all policies, which are now industry standards were
introduced by BSLI. Being a customer centric company, BSLI has invested
heavily in technology to build world class processing capabilities.
BSLI has covered more than 2 million lives since inception and its
customer base is spread across more than 1500 towns and cities in
India. All this has assisted the company in cementing its place amongst
the leaders in the industry in terms of new business premium income.
The company has a capital base of Rs. 1274.5 crore, as on March 31,
2008.
Additional information is available at www.birlasunlife.com |
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| About Aditya Birla Group |
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The Aditya Birla Group a US $28 billion conglomerate is among the largest business houses in India.
It enjoys a leadership position in all the sectors in which it
operates. It is anchored by a force of 100,000 employees, belonging to
25 nationalities. Its operations span 20 countries across six
continents and is reckoned as India's first multinational corporation.
Headquartered in Mumbai, India, over 50 per cent of the Group’s
revenues flow from its overseas operations. The Group nurtures a work
culture where success is built on learning and innovation.
The Aditya Birla Group was recently been adjudged “The Best Employer in
India and among the top 20 in Asia” by the Hewitt, Economic Times and
Wall Street Journal Study 2007.
Additional information is available at www.adityabirla.com |
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| About Sun Life Financial Inc. |
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Sun
Life Financial Inc. is a leading international financial services
organization providing a diverse range of wealth accumulation and
protection products and services to individuals and corporate
customers. Tracing its roots back to 1865, Sun Life Financial and its
partners today have operations in key markets worldwide, including
Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, the
Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China and Bermuda. As of June 30,
2008, the Sun Life Financial group of companies had total assets under
management of CDN$413 billion.
Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE)
and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under ticker symbol "SLF".
Additional information can be found at www.sunlife.com |
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For further information kindly contact:
Ms. Anjana Grewal,
Sr. Vice President - Marketing & Communication,
Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited, Ph: 022-6678 3333.
E-mail: anjana@birlasunlife.com
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