Coca-Cola denies US consumer group’s claim that its colouring ingredient causes cancer; yet the company says it will modify its drinks in India like it has in California
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ULIPs
Mixing insurance with investment, for the ‘large’ maturity benefit, or even to provide for your child’s education or ease your retirement years, is a deeply-flawed investment strategy
Insurers advertise unit-linked insurance plans (ULIPs) as products that perform dual roles. According to Aegon Religare, it is a ‘financial solution that combines the safety of life insurance protection with wealth creation’. In practice, however, ULIPs perform neither of these functions particularly well. As investments they are complicated and inefficient, and because a portion of the premium is invested, from an insurance point of view, they provide inadequate cover. A number of charges – for policy administration, premium allocation, and fund management, among others – add to their inefficiency.
While the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has recently announced measures to curtail their downsides, they are still no match for a term plan. In this report, we tell you why, even after the reforms, it’s still not a good idea to mix investment with insurance.
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