TATA AIG LIFE INSURANCE

PROJECT REPORT

ON

RECRUITING QUALITY ADVISOR IN CURRENT

SENARIO

Submitted by
Richa Gupta
(Student)
Sherwood College Of Professional Management
Lucknow

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RECRUITING QUALITY ADVISOR IN
CURRENT SCENARIO

Prepared by

RICHA GUPTA
BBA 3 Yr
Sherwood College Of Professional Management
Lucknow

Under the guidance of

Sunanda B Singh
Unit Manager
TATA AIG LIFE LUCKNOW

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 Table of Contents

1. Acknowledgement………………………………………………………. 4

2. Introduction…………………………………………………………………5

3. Research Problem………………………………………………………..19

4. Research Plan………………………………………………………………20

5. Data Analysis………………………………………………………………..21

6. Data Interpretation……………………………………………………….22

7. Discussion…………………………………………………………………….25

8. Appendix………………………………………………………………………30

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 Acknowledgement

The successful completion of my project would be incomplete unless I mention

some of the persons, as an expression of gratitude, which made it possible,
whose constant guidance and encouragement served as a beckon light and
helped in successfully completing my project.

I take this opportunity of expressing my gratitude to Sunanda B Singh (Unit

Manager), Kamlesh Bahadur Singh (Branch Manager), Prof. of Sherwood and
my friends who have always been of immense help during the making of this
project, which helped me a great deal in enhancing my knowledge by virtue of
practical application. Their guidance and support carried with me all through the
preparation of this project.

I would also like to give credit to all the people who helped me by filling in the
questionnaires and seniors who have very sincerely provided different support
and help whenever required.

I would also thanks to the institute to provide adequate facilities for collecting
information.

Thank you
Richa Gupta

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 INTRODUCTION

Insurance in India
Insurance is a federal subject in India and has a history dating back to 1818. Life
and general insurance in India is still a nascent sector with huge potential
for various global players with the life insurance premiums accounting to
2.5% of the country's GDP while general insurance premiums to 0.65% of
India's GDP. The Insurance sector in India has gone through a number of
phases and changes, particularly in the recent years when the Govt. of
India in 1999 opened up the insurance sector by allowing private
companies to solicit insurance and also allowing FDI up to 26%. Ever
since, the Indian insurance sector is considered as a booming market with
every other global insurance company wanting to have a lion's share.
Currently, the largest life insurance company in India is still owned by the
government.

History of Insurance in India

Insurance in India has its history dating back till 1818 started by Anita Bhavsar,
when Oriental Life Insurance Company was started by Europeans in Kolkata to
cater to the needs of European community. Pre-independent era in India saw
discrimination among the life of foreigners and Indians with higher premiums
being charged for the latter. It was only in the year 1870, Bombay Mutual Life
Assurance Society, the first Indian insurance company covered Indian lives at
normal rates.

At the dawn of the twentieth century, insurance companies started mushrooming

up. In the year 1912, the Life Insurance Companies Act, and the Provident Fund
Act were passed to regulate the insurance business. The Life Insurance
Companies Act, 1912 made it necessary that the premium rate tables and
periodical valuations of companies should be certified by an actuary. However,
the disparage still existed as discrimination between Indian and foreign
companies. The oldest existing insurance company in India is National
Insurance Company Ltd, which was founded in 1906 and is doing business even
today. The Insurance industry earlier consisted of only two state insurers: Life
Insurers i.e. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and General Insurers i.e.
General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC). GIC had four subsidiary
companies. With effect from December 2000, these subsidiaries have been de-

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linked from parent company and made as independent insurance companies:
Oriental Insurance Company Limited, New India Assurance Company Limited,
National Insurance Company Limited and United India Insurance Company
Limited.

Related Acts
The insurance sector went through a full circle of phases from being unregulated
to completely regulate and then currently being partly deregulated. It is
governed by a number of acts.

The Insurance Act, 1938

The Insurance Act, 1938 was the first legislation governing all forms of
insurance to provide strict state control over insurance business.

Life Insurance Corporation Act, 1956

Even though the first legislation was enacted in 1938, it was only in 19 January
1956, that life insurance in India was completely nationalized, through a
Government ordinance; the Life Insurance Corporation Act, 1956 effective from
1.9.1956 was enacted in the same year to, inter-alia, form LIFE INSURANCE
CORPORATION after nationalization of the 245 companies into one entity.
There were 245 insurance companies of both Indian and foreign origin in 1956.
Nationalization was accomplished by the govt. acquisition of the management of
the companies. The Life Insurance Corporation of India was created on 1
September, 1956, as a result and has grown to be the largest insurance company
in India as of 2006.

General Insurance Business (Nationalizations) Act, 1972

The General Insurance Business (Nationalization) Act, 1972 was enacted to

nationalize the 100 odd general insurance companies and subsequently merging
them into four companies. All the companies were amalgamated into National
Insurance, New India Assurance, Oriental Insurance, and United India Insurance
which were headquartered in each of the four metropolitan cities.

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) Act, 1999

Till 1999, there were not any private insurance companies in Indian insurance
sector. The Govt. of India then introduced the Insurance Regulatory and
Development Authority Act in 1999, thereby de-regulating the insurance sector
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and allowing private companies into the insurance. Further, foreign investment
was also allowed and capped at 26% holding in the Indian insurance companies.
In recent years many private players entered in the Insurance sector of India.
Companies with equal strength competing in the Indian insurance market.
Currently, in India only 2 million people (0.2 % of total population of 1 billion),
are covered under Medi-claim, whereas in developed nations like USA about
75 % of the total population are covered under some insurance scheme. With
more and more private players in the sector this scenario may change at a rapid
pace.

In India, Insurance is a national matter, in which life and general insurance is yet
a booming sector with huge possibilities for different global companies, as life
insurance premiums account to 2.5% and general insurance premiums account
to 0.65% of India's GDP. The Indian Insurance sector has gone through several
phases and changes, especially after 1999, when the Govt. of India opened up
the insurance sector for private companies to solicit insurance, allowing FDI up
to 26%. Since then, the Insurance sector in India is considered as a flourishing
market amongst global insurance companies. However, the largest life insurance
company in India is still owned by the government.

Insurance Companies in India

• Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Limited
• Birla Sun Life Insurance Co. Ltd
• HDFC Standard life Insurance Co. Ltd
• ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
• ING Vysya Life Insurance Company Ltd.
• Life Insurance Corporation of India
• Max New York Life Insurance Co. Ltd
• Met Life India Insurance Company Ltd.
• Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Limited
• TATA AIG Life Insurance Co. Ltd
• Tata AIG Life Insurance Company Limited
• Reliance Life Insurance Company Limited.
• Aviva Life Insurance Co. India Pvt. Ltd.
• Shriram Life Insurance Co, Ltd.
• Sahara India Life Insurance
• Bharti AXA Life Insurance
• Future Generali Life Insurance
• IDBI Fortis Life Insurance
• Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance

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• Religare Life Insurance
• DLF Pramerica Life Insurance
• Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance
• Agriculture Insurance Company of India
• Apollo DKV Insurance
• Cholamandalam MS General Insurance
• HDFC Ergo General Insurance Company
• ICICI Lombard General Insurance
• IFFCO Tokio General Insurance
• National Insurance Company Ltd
• New India Assurance
• Oriental Insurance Company
• Reliance General Insurance
• Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance
• Shriram General Insurance Company Limited
• Tata AIG General Insurance
• United India Insurance
• Universal Sompo General Insurance Co. Ltd

TATA AIG Life Insurance

Mission: "To emerge as the leading company offering a comprehensive range of
life insurance and pension products at competitive prices, ensuring high
standards of customer satisfaction and world class operating efficiency, and
become a model life insurance company in India in the post liberalization
period".

• Trustworthiness
• Ambition
• Innovation
• Dynamism
• Excellence

TATA AIG Life Insurance Company Limited is a joint venture between the
Tata Groups and American International Group. TATA AIG Life Insurance is
registered with an Authorized capital of Rs 2000 Crores and a Paid-up capital of
Rs 1000 Crores. TATA AIG owns 74% of the total capital and American
International Groupthe remaining 26%.

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Tata Company enjoys the largest banking franchise in India. Along with its 7
Associate Banks, TATA AIG Group has the unrivalled strength of over 14,500
branches across the country, arguably the largest in the world.

American International Groupis the life and property & casualty insurance unit.
International group, part of the world's top 6 group of banks by market value and
a European leader in global banking and financial services, is one of the oldest
foreign banks with a presence in India dating back to 1860. American
International Groupis the fourth largest life insurance company in France, and a
worldwide leader in Creditor insurance products offering protection to over 50
million clients. American International Group operates in 41 countries mainly
through the banc assurance and partnership model.

TATA AIG Life has a unique multi-distribution model encompassing

Bancassurance, Agency and Group Corporate.

TATA AIG Life extensively leverages the TATA AIGGroup as a platform for
cross-selling insurance products along with its numerous banking product
packages such as housing loans and personal loans. TATA ’s access to over 100
million accounts across the country provides a vibrant base for insurance
penetration across every region and economic strata in the country ensuring true
financial inclusion.

Agency Channel, comprising of the most productive force of more than 63,000
Insurance Advisors, offers door to door insurance solutions to customers.

The two basic elements to all individuals for life insurance are

a. Risk coverage (i.e. Term Insurance)

b. Savings for future (i.e. Pure Endowment)

Term Insurance covers “Risk” and Risk means “Death”. Here a lump sum
amount is payable only if death occurs during a selected period. If the insured
survives till the end of the selected period, nothing becomes payable.
The insurer will receive a lump sum amount either at death during the term or at
maturity of the term.

Whole life insurance risk covers the death of the insured, whenever it may
happen. It means that there is no fixed term under whole life insurance. Most
policies provide a dividend to the policy holder which helps with retirement.

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There are two variations in the whole life insurance products i.e.

a. Pure Whole Life Insurance: - where premiums are payable continuously

throughout the life of the insured till death. Risk coverage is for the entire
duration of life and the life insured amount is paid on the happening of the
death of the insured at any time.
b. Limited Payment Whole life Insurance: - where premiums are paid for a
limited and shorter period and the option of the insured or till death if
earlier. Risk coverage is however throughout the life of the insured.

The policy can be surrendered for cash only after the premiums have been paid
for at least three years. The minimum surrender value allowed is equal to a
certain percentage of the total amount of premiums paid excluding the premiums
for the first year and all extra premiums or additional premiums for accident
benefits that may have been paid.

Policy holders are expected to pay premium on due dates. A period is 15-30
days is allowed as grace to make payment of premium; such period is days of
grace.
Period between the date of subscription to an insurance-cum-pension policy and
the time at which the first installment of pension is received. Such policies
generally prescribe a minimum and maximum limit on the deferment period.

Life insurance usually without medical examination, on a group of people under

a master policy. It is typically issued to an employer for the benefit of
employees or to members of an association, for example a professional
membership group. The individual members of the group hold certificates as
evidence of their insurance.

Unlike endowment plans, in money back policies, the policy holder gets
“periodic payments" during the term of the policy and a lump sum amount on
surviving its term. In the event of death during the term of the policy, the
beneficiary gets the full sum assured, without any deductions for the amounts
paid till date, and no further premiums are required to be paid. These type of
policies are very popular, since they can be tailored to get large amounts at
specific periods as per the needs of the policy holder.

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Nomination and Assignment

Nomination: An act by which the policy holders authorizes another person to

receive the policy moneys. The person so authorized is called Nominee.

Assignment: Assignment means legal transference. A method by which the

policy holder can person on his interest to another person. An assignment can be
made by an endorsement on the policy document or as a separate deed.
Assignment can be of two types Conditional & Absolute.

The age at which the receipt of pension starts in an insurance-cum-pension plan.

Most insurance companies offer an optional feature called "waiver of premium".
This typically states that in the event you become totally disabled for a period of
six months or longer, the insurance company will pay your premium until you
are no longer disabled. This feature is optional (available at an extra cost) and
must be chosen at the time of your application.

Guaranteed savings or bonus

Some insurance policies guarantee the amount of money that you would receive
upon maturity or the minimum amount that you would receive upon maturity.
Usually, this amount is a proportion of the sum assured such as a bonus or a
guaranteed addition of say Rs 70 per Rs 1,000 of the sum assured. This means if
you have an insurance policy for a sum assured of Rs 100,000 then you earn a
bonus of Rs 7,000 each year on the sum assured.
Other policies may offer you a guaranteed bonus as a percentage such as a
guaranteed addition of 3.5% per annum on a compounded basis. This means you
earn Rs 3,500 on a sum assured of Rs 100,000 in the first year while in the
second year you earn Rs 3,623 (3.5% of Rs 103,500). Some companies also
offer unit-linked policies.

When one is worrying too much about one’s savings, investments, etc and when
one feels insecure about his/her life, it’s time for him/her to insure his/her life.
And what can be better than TATA AIG Life Insurance! TATA , a leading

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company in India, offers a comprehensive range of life insurance and pension
products.

TATA AIG Life Insurance is an integral part of the TATA AIG Group. It is a
joint venture between the Tata Group and International group Assurance. It is
also the largest banking franchise in India. TATA AIG Life Insurance
comprises Bancassurance, Agency and Group Corporate.

TATA AIG Life Insurance features both individual and group products like:
 Unit Linked Products: this is a single non participating product group that
meets both the financial as well as insurance needs.

 Pension Products: these comprehensive plans help to meet your post

retirement financial needs.

 Pure Protection Products: nobody can predict future. So, any time anything
can shatter one’s dreams. Pure Protection Products help to keep one safe and
secure during these trouble times.

TATA AIG Life also offers some protection cum savings products and money
back scheme products. TATA AIG also has products for brokers. These
products take inspiration from the endeavors of various industries and make
your life easy.

Other TATA AIG Life Insurance plans are:

 Retirement Solutions
 Protection Plans
 Specialized Term Insurance:
 Group Term with ROP
 Group Loan Protection Products
 Group Savings Protection Products
 Group Micro Insurance

Uncertainties in life have increased by manifold and so has the demand for an
insurance cover. However, the choice for an insurance plan depends on
different requirements of an individual.

Take for instance, if you want to make sure that your family is well taken care
of in case something happens to you, but at the same time cannot bear the

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burden of costly premiums then ’term insurance’ is the answer for you.

Term insurance is the least expensive form of life insurance that promises to
pay your family a lump sum amount in case of one’s death during the term of
the policy. However, unlike other saving plans you don’t get your money back
in term insurance plans.

The general thumb rule for investing in a life insurance policy is 8-10 times the
annual income, 5 times is the absolute minimum.

Customised plans

Term insurance plans can be customised to suit ones needs by exercising

additional optional benefits. Under some plans companies give you the sum
assured on diagnosis of any of the critical illnesses specified by the company.
They offer different riders like accidental death, critical illness and waiver of
premium.

Further, to get a bigger slice of the insurance pie, insurance companies offer an
array of plans ranging from individual to group plans and debt protection plans.
For instance, for ’Premium Back Term Plan’ under Birla Sun Life Insurance
(BSLI) the entire amount of premium that you pay over the period of time is
returned.

’Shield’ by TATA AIG Life Insurance, unlike other term insurance plans,
offers an option of increasing sum assured over a period of time. The unique
feature of this policy is that although the life cover increases automatically, the
premium payable remains constant throughout the term of the policy, without
the need for medical examination at each stage. This avoids the need to take a
new policy, which will come at a higher cost. Aviva LifeShield also gives you
the option to increase the sum insured.

Loan protection plan

One of the most innovative ideas offered by the insurance industry is loan
protection plan. It provides a lump sum amount on the death of an assured life.
However, under this if you have taken a home loan, your family is not affected
in the event of one’s death.

However, under this, the lump sum amount reduces as the outstanding loan
decreases as per the loan schedule.

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Some of the companies that offer loan protection plans are TATA AIGLife,
Birla Sun Life and HDFC Standard Life. "BSLI has variants of term insurance
plans depending upon the needs of the policy holders.

On the one hand, there are term insurance plans that cover only the outstanding
loan amount where level premium is cheap.

On the other hand, there are term insurance plans that cover a flat loan amount
where the benefit is that, in case of an unfortunate event, the policy holder gets
a flat amount that can be used to repay the outstanding amount. The balance
will remain with the policy holders to meet the needs and lifestyle of his
dependents. BSLI also offers term plans where the policy holder gets money at
the end of the term," says Kedar Mulgund, Appointed Actuary, BSLI.

Benefits

The best time to opt for term insurance is during the early stages of life, as a
low premium rate applicable to a young person gets locked for the rest of the
policy term. In case of Aviva Life, an annual premium of Rs 3160 fetches an
insurance cover of Rs 10 lakh over the period of 10 years for an individual of
25 years of age.

Likewise in case of HDFC Standard Life, an insurance cover for 15 years

requires a regular premium of Rs 2670 at the age of 25. Premium for the same
policy at the age of 40 works out to Rs 4380. Apart from this, premiums up to
Rs 1,00,000, under Sec 80C, are available as deduction on the taxable income.
Other than this if the person is availing some riders like critical illness or
accelerated sum assured, an assessee can avail tax deductions under section
80D.

ULIP vs term insurance

ULIP is essentially a long-term commitment between the policy holder and the
insurance company. Today, many individuals are adding ULIP to their
portfolio to generate wealth and protection over the long term. However term
insurance is a complete protection plan that promises to pay your family a
lump sum amount in return of the small premium. But unlike ULIPs, in most of
the term plans, you don’t get your money back.

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TATA AIG Life Insurance offers a slew of products designed for various
segments of society. These include money back products, pension products,
protection cum savings products, and unit linked products. All these products
cater to various requirements of its end users.

MoneyBack-Products

These are traditional saving plans with additional advantage of life cover and
guaranteed cash inflow at regular intervals. Key features of money back plan are
periodic return options suited to your needs, and competitive premium rates.
Apart from normal death cover, the plan also provides four additional covers.
Sanjeevan Supreme is designed for individuals who want to plan for various
financial obligations at specified times in life.

Pension-Products

Pension products have been designed keeping in mind the needs of retired
individuals. Four products currently offered under this segment are Horizon II
Pension, Unit Plus Pension, Lifelong Pensions and Immediate Annuity. Under
these plans, one can choose retirement date, the plan option and the regular
premium amount.

Protection-cum-Savings-Products

These products are designed to provide savings and protection at the same time.
These products offer the option of tailoring your policy according to your
requirement and needs, by opting for riders (extra covers).

Smart-ULIP

The portfolio is linked to the volatile market, and fluctuates with it. The
investment risk in portfolio is borne by the policyholder. For first seven years,
guarantee is offered on select NAVs. Guaranteed Maturity NAV continues after
the premium payment term. It is an investment based on market economy and
offer high returns. The plan gives one maximum opportunity for growth while
protecting investments against adverse market conditions. Attractive Tax
benefits can be availed under the Income Tax Act, 1961.

IN THIS POLICY, THE INVESTMENT RISK IN INVESTMENT

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PORTFOLIO IS BORNE BY THE POLICYHOLDER

In the current volatile market scenario a plan which not only protects customer
investment, but also enables him/her to get market related returns. TATA AIG
Life - Smart ULIP is the perfect answer to the need of customer, and will give
not only Guarantee on select NAVs during the first seven years, but also gives
the added attraction of participating in the market upside.

Key Features:
• • Guarantee of the highest of select NAVs, during the first seven years
on Maturity
• • Investment cum Insurance plan giving market related returns.
• • Convenience through shorter premium paying term, giving you a
choice between 2 premium paying terms (PPT).
• • ‘Power of more’ - Guaranteed Maturity NAV, continues beyond the
premium payment term
• • Innovative structured investment fund -‘FlexiProtect Fund’.
• • Hassle free plan - we manage your investment, giving you maximum
opportunity for growth while protecting your investments against
adverse market conditions.
• • Attractive Tax benefits under the Income Tax Act, 1961

Product type:
This is a unit linked, non participating insurance plan.

ULIP-Elite

Under this plan, you can invest in a wide variety of funds and manage them as
per your convenience. Gold and platinum protection covers are available. You
have to pray premium only for a limited term of 3, 5, 7 or 10 years. You can also
protect yourselves against accident and critical illness with the rider cover. You
can also add-on to your kitty through top-up premiums facility. When the policy
ends, Fund Value as on the Maturity Date is paid. Settlement option is also
available.

GroupCriti9

This is a non-participating Group Health Plan providing protection against nine

critical illnesses where assured sum is paid in lump sum on diagnosis of any one
of covered critical illnesses. It has guaranteed renewability till 65 years of age.
Critical illnesses covered are Cancer, Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction),
Stroke, Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery, Kidney Failure (End Stage Renal

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Disease), Major Organ Transplant, Coma, Multiple Sclerosis and Heart Valve
Surgery. The plan is offered to various groups like employee-employer
relationship, credit life groups, customers of bank / financial institutions,
depositors groups etc.

UnitPlus

As a parent you want to secure your child’s future against rising cost of
education and other necessities. Unit Plus Child Plan could be your solution.
Key features of the plan are market related returns to match increasing cost of
education, loyalty units to celebrate your child reaching 18 years. New
Investment Fund (Equity Optimizers Fund) in addition to existing funds, pay
premium for a limited period, and flexible plan which adapts to your changing
needs.

Key features:
Unmatched flexibility to match the changing requirement
Twin benefit of life cover and market linked returns
Option of single or regu

Horizon

TATA AIG Life Horizon offers the flexibility of Unit Linked Plan along with
Automatic Asset Allocation. Key features of the plan include twin benefit of
insurance cover and market linked returns, expert management of funds from
inception to maturity, automatic asset allocation of funds, automatic rebalancing
of funds at yearly intervals, automatic cover continuance, liquidity option after 3
years, facility to top up your investment kitty, and tax benefit.

ADVISOR
An agent is a primary source for procurement of insurance business and as such
his role is the corner stone for building a solid edifice of any life insurance
organization. To effect a good quality of life insurance sale, an agent must be
equipped with technical aspects of insurance knowledge, he must possess
analytical ability to analyze human needs, he must be abreast with up to date
knowledge of merits or demerits of other instruments of investment available in
the financial market, he must be endowed with a burning desire of social service
and over and above all this, he must possess and develop an undeterred

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determination to succeed as a Life Insurance Salesman. In short he must be an
agent with professional approach in life insurance salesmanship. Such an agency
force is expected to be helpful not only in proper field underwriting but also
after sale servicing, concomitant and essential elements for higher retention of
business.

REQURIEMENTS FOR BEING AN ADVISOR

• A pass in 12th standard.

• Minimum age of 18 years with no upper limit.
• Good communication skills
• Best suited for well consented male/female marketing professionals, in
public dealing jobs, UTI agents, Post office staffs, housewives and
energetic students.
• Offers lifelong income in the form of commission over a period of
time
• Freedom to work part/full time
• No fixed working hours

ATTRIBUTES OF INSURANCE PROFESSIONALS

We can identify certain positive manifestation of a professional agent:

• He will possess excellent and proven salesmanship skill. He will have

knowledge of human nature and psychology. He will have a sound
knowledge of the product, his institution, his competitors and entire
financial market.

• He will have a regular and systematic business production with a time-

bound plan.

• He will have an increasing and decent income and increasing clients.

• He will derive enormous job satisfaction.

• He will follow proper business ethics and accepted code of conduct.

• All his actions will be consumer oriented.

• He will be accepted as a friend, philosopher and guide by his clients.

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 • His professionals’ status will be evidenced by his becoming a club
member of one of the higher clubs.

• His public recognition in the institution will also be enlightened by

qualifying for special honors like MDRT etc.

ROLE OF AGENTS UNDER IRDA REGULATION

1. Full information must be provided to the proponent at the point of sale to

enable him to decide on the best cover or plan to minimize instances of
cooling off by the proponents.

2. An agent should be well versed in all the plans, the selling points and also
be equipped to assess he needs of the clients.

3. Adherence to the prescribed Code of Conduct for agents is of crucial

importance. Agents must, therefore, familiarize themselves with provisions
of the Code of Conduct.

4. Agents must provide the office with the accurate information about the
prospect for a fair assessment of the risk involved. The agents’ confidential
report must, therefore, be completed very carefully.

5. Agents must also possess adequate knowledge of policy servicing and

claim settlement procedures so that the policyholders can be guided
correctly.

6. Submission of proposal forms and proposal deposit to the branch office

immediately to avoid delays and to enable the office to take timely decisions.

7. A leaflet or brochure containing relevant features of the plan that is being

sold should be available with the agents.

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 RESARECH PROBLEM

The problem which has to be study is related to problem in Recruiting

quality advisors. As already discussed the qualities of an advisor required
by the organization, now there should be some parameter to measure them so
that the deactivation of recruited advisors can be reduced and also some ways
to motivate them, to enhance their performance and increase the profit of the
organization.

Indices of customer retention in the recent past are disturbing trends for
Agents as well as for insurance organization. As per a study on an insurance
company, the first premium lapsation of 16.4% was recorded in the F.Y
ended 31.03.2003 as compared to 17.37% in the previous F.Y. The main
reasons being high degree of lapsation around 18% of total number of
policies due to non-need based selling, deficient after sales service,
unrealistic sales and faulty recruitment system. Cumulative lapsation ratios of
New Business varying from 35% to 60% in different divisions during the
mean duration of 0 to 3 years, is really a cause of concern. High retention of
business would go a long way to ensure a healthy growth in his/her Business
Portfolio (fulfilling Club membership criteria) and thereby increases his/her
renewal commission earnings an essential enabling factor to face the present
and emerging competition in the financial sector with needed confidence in
the days to come.

My main concern of discussion in the research project is on:

• Defining the qualities of an advisor,
• Parameter that will define the qualities,
• Reason for inactivation of advisors and
• How focused recruiting of advisor result in reduction of inactivation of
advisors.

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 RESEARCH DESIGN

Exploratory design-

We will do the exploratory design to know the all the possible aspects of our
research. There are different exploratory design survey that are mentioned
below-

Expert interview- we can do the expert interview from Unit managers to know
the different processes and requirement for recruiting quality advisors.

Focus group discussion- This is the most optimum method to know the views
of the sales unit who have taken to sale the policy. Our research is directly
related with major fraction of sales units and unit managers who have to sale the
policies. So by conducting the focused group discussion among the
homogeneous group who have taken education loan, we can know about the
problem in the processing of recruiting quality advisors.

In-depth interview- By asking questions from advisors having different

financial background and different course they are pursuing, we come to know
their personal experiences about processing of saales.

Case study & secondary data analysis- Secondary data analysis consists of
internet, research paper, various journals, published articles and editorials. By
getting various chunks of data we can correlate these with our problem.

Conclusive design-We will do the conclusive design survey to find the result on
the basis of those data that we have collected by the exploratory survey.

Descriptive design- Here we will do the descriptive design survey with the help
of questionnaire that will be form on the basis of those points that we have go by
the exploratory design survey. We will do the multiple cross-sectional

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descriptive design survey that will be done by getting filled questionnaire by
different institute in Lucknow.

SAMPLING DESIGN
Sample unit: Unit managers and sales department
Sample size: 70
Sampling Method: Quota sampling
Research Instruments: Questionnaires

Quota Sampling:

The reason behind this is that we can divide the unit managers who have
recruited different advisors into different strata (here we can divide the advisors
into different strata on the basis of financial background, course they are
pursuing & where they live) and then collect information through Questionnaire
approach.

We use Quota Sampling for our convenience of data collection.

DATA ANALYSIS

1. An advisor should possess excellent and proven salesmanship skill the

results found are that 34 respondents are strongly agreed, 17 agreed, none
are neutral, 19 disagreed and none is strongly disagreed.

2. An advisor should have knowledge of human nature and psychology the

results found are that 20 respondents are strongly agreed, 7 agreed, 12 are
neutral, 16 disagreed and 15 strongly disagreed.

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3. He should have a sound knowledge of the product, his institution, his
competitors and entire financial market the results found are that 39
respondents are strongly agreed, 16 agreed, none are neutral, 12 disagreed
and 3 strongly disagreed.

4. He should have a regular and systematic business production with a time-

bound plan the results found are that 31 respondents are strongly agreed,
14 agreed, 5 are neutral, 20 disagreed and none is strongly disagreed.

5. He should have an increasing and decent income and increasing clients

the results found are that 29 respondents are strongly agreed, 18 agreed,
none are neutral, 13 disagreed and 10 strongly disagreed.

6. He should derive enormous job satisfaction the results found are that 34
respondents are strongly agreed, 17 agreed, none are neutral, 19 disagreed
and none is strongly disagreed.

7. He should follow proper business ethics and accepted code of conduct the
results found are that 24 respondents are strongly agreed, 17 agreed, none
are neutral, 19 disagreed and 10 strongly disagreed.

8. All his actions should be consumer oriented the results found are that 22
respondents are strongly agreed, 23 agreed, 12 are neutral, 10 disagreed
and 3 strongly disagreed.

9. He should be accepted as a friend, philosopher and guide by his clients

the results found are that 6 respondents are strongly agreed, 17 agreed, 22
are neutral, 19 disagreed and 6 strongly disagreed.

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10. His public recognition in the institution will also be enlightened by
qualifying for special honors the results found are that 19 respondents are
strongly agreed, 17 agreed, none are neutral, 34 disagreed and none is
strongly disagreed.

11. He must possess and develop an undeterred determination to succeed as a

Life Insurance Salesman the results found are that 35 respondents are
strongly agreed, 19 agreed, none are neutral, 16 disagreed and none is
strongly disagreed.

Reason for the inactivation of advisors

12. Advisor turn inactivate because of he is unable to give the result as desire
by the organization the results found are that 34 respondents are strongly
agreed, 17 agreed, none are neutral, 19 disagreed and none is strongly
disagreed.

13. He turns to give more priority to other works and perform as advisor only
as part time the results found are that 31 respondents are strongly agreed,
14 agreed, none are neutral, 19 disagreed and 3 strongly disagreed.

14. He is unable to convince the customer to buy the product the results found
are that 29 respondents are strongly agreed, 16 agreed, 5 are neutral, 18
disagreed and 2 strongly disagreed.

15. He is unable meet the complex need of customer the results found are that
27 respondents are strongly agreed, 16 agreed, 6 are neutral, 18 disagreed
and 3 is strongly disagreed.

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 16. He is unable to establish relationship with the customer the results found
are that 34 respondents are strongly agreed, 17 agreed, none are neutral,
19 disagreed and none is strongly disagreed.

17. Do you feel pressure for recruiting the advisors form your organization
the results found are that 37 respondents are strongly agreed, 16 agreed,
none are neutral, 17 disagreed and none is strongly disagreed.

18. Higher educated agents give better results the results found are that 24
respondents are strongly agreed, 7 agreed, 16 are neutral, 19 disagreed
and 4 strongly disagreed.

19. Younger agents perform better or are more result oriented the results
found are that 25 respondents are strongly agreed, 17 agreed, 13 are
neutral, 5 disagreed and 10 strongly disagreed.

20. Do you feel most of the agents take the job as part time the results found
are that 32 respondents are strongly agreed, 18 agreed, none are neutral,
11 disagreed and 9 strongly disagreed.

DISCUSSION
From the above finding it can be concluded that recruiting of advisor or quality
advisor depends upon the knowledge of the persons about the product, the
company is offering and the communication skill of the advisor to deal with the
customer.

Need base product and capacity based sales: -

The agent before offering any products must know his clients well enough.
He must have the knowledge about the state personal habits, health
occupation, financial position and income, moral character, his family history
and all other related aspects which help in field underwriting of a case. After
accumulating the needed data/of clients’ information if the life is apparently
found insurable, only in such a case proposal should be procured. An agent
has a long-term stake in the health of an insurance organization; therefore, he

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must canvass and procure only such business, which has a reasonable chance
of staying in the books of the insurer. Neither early claim nor lapsation of a
policy helps an agent to build a sizable portfolio for his stable income and
professional standing. Thus the agents should offer to their clients only such
products that are not only will suited to their needs but also are financially
viable for them.

After sales service: -

In the present age of information explosion and competition, the service

industry like LIC, Insurance companies cannot survive without an action
based philosophy of excellent after sales service. After sales service in an
insurance industry includes collection of premium, revival / reinstatement of
paid up / lapsed policies, nomination and assignment, grant of loan, payment
of survival benefits, settlement of surrender value, alteration and finally the
settlement of claims (death or maturity) under a policy and an agent can
render invaluable help to his clients in these areas. If the agents fail to
provide these after sales service, the policy holders who lack either in
resource or time or needed know-how, feel disenchanted and consequently
their faith in the organization gets eroded and this in turn may increase the
likelihood of discontinuance of their policy, such a situation not only creates
a bad image of the organization making it difficult to procure further business
from such a section of policyholder but it also implies irreparable loss to the
agent and the organization. If the agents are well conversant with the claim
settlement procedure and assist the claimants in completing the necessary
requirements, it would not only quicken the process of claim settlement and
enhance their professional status but also help the organization to improve
upon their outstanding claim ratio. This, while further boosting the image of
the organization may provide them an overflowing fountain for further
business in those families.

Unrealistic Sales:-

Such sales are affected either to complete the quota for renewal of agency or
achieve top business targets with various considerations. Of late, this
unhealthy practice has shown a sharp rising trend as confirmed by high ratios
of lapsation in the mean duration of one year. Obviously, such sales cannot
be financially beneficial to agents but certainly put the corporation to
financial loss.

Faulty Recruitment Practice:-

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 It has been observed that due to non scientific methods (i.e. large scale
recruitment without any screening method) being adopted in recruitment of
the agency force there is a very sizable percentage of drop-outs amongst
them. Though there are some Pre-recruitment training procedures as per
present regulation, the mass recruitment of agents put some obstacles to the
training centres. This aspect, for obvious reasons, needs immediate review
followed by necessary corrections measures. The LIC therefore, should take
conscious steps not only to recruit persons with needed aptitude as agents but
also ensure their proper training to groom them for a true professional .
approach in the career chosen by them. The LIC should also review
periodically the percentage of consistent performing agents in number as well
as in terms of new and existing business. The necessary steps should be taken
to ensure a consistent growth in the number of such agents. The salesman
must be trained, motivated and controlled in such a way that they become
more skilled in identifying and satisfying customer.s needs faithfully,
efficiently & constantly.

Future marketing strategies to meet the challenges:

The three words Liberalization, Globalization and Privatization have brought
about a radical change in the world and have given a new orientation to the
market conditions. The participation in the new system is not optional; it is
an essential requirement of the developments. The LIC agents have to
diversify their activities to meet the complex needs of the customers.
Spreading of education, economic activities and social consciousness have
made the job of LIC agents more challenging and complex. The old
techniques of selling will not help them. They have to adopt latest marketing
strategies (i.e Psychomarketing strategies). It is an unending process for
capitalizing the opportunities and avoiding threats arising out of the changing
economic situation and consumer awareness. More companies today are
moving their effort from Transaction Marketing to Relationship Marketing
for the development of long-term customerrelationship. The agents,
therefore, have to adopt, .Relationship marketing. as against the present
Transaction selling. The term relationship marketing means nothing but the
time hounoured after sales services tempered with marketing approach and
total consumer creativity responsiveness and trust. The performance of
agents who will now depend on not how many hours he works but the quality
of service, his attitude to customers and the image that he will create for the
entire life insurance business. Thus the agent under the changing economic
scenario can achieve their objectives by practicing psycho-marketing

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 strategies. Their objectives are survival and growth. Maximisation of
business is an end to achieve these objectives

5 steps to select an insurance advisor:

Presence of a life insurance policy is essential in every individual's

financial portfolio. But at the same time, it is also important that the right
insurance products be bought and that too for the right reasons. With so
many insurance products vying for a place in the individual's portfolio,
conducting a proper evaluation can become quite a task. Taking the help of
an insurance advisor/agent can help solve this problem.

An insurance advisor/agent can play the part of the direct link between the
insurance company and the insurance seeker i.e. you. He is the one who can
help you select the right policy i.e. one which can help you fulfill your
insurance needs. But for this, it is important that you connect with an expert
and qualified insurance advisor/agent.

We present a 5-step strategy that will help you identify and select the right
insurance advisor.

Is your insurance advisor certified?

Before selecting an insurance advisor, you should ensure that he has the
necessary IRDA (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority)
certification. IRDA has laid down certain guidelines, which need to be
followed by every individual who intends to qualify as an insurance
advisor. Only on the completion of these requirements, an individual is
allowed to sell insurance policy. Therefore, before selecting an agent,
you must ensure that he has acquired the necessary qualifications and
that he holds a valid license to sell insurance.

Does he offer investment solutions?

You should understand that the job of an insurance advisor is not limited
only to selling insurance i.e. providing the insurance form, getting the
same filled and submitted. Instead, with the changing scenario, more
emphasis is now given to financial planning as a broader exercise. Now
your insurance advisor is required to have a comprehensive
understanding of your requirements and accordingly he should be
equipped to offer you the policy that best suits you. Thus, his job has

28
been extended to advising clients rather than simply selling insurance.

Since an insurance advisor is now required to play such a vital role, it is

pertinent that you steer clear of advisors who normally sell policies,
which earn them high commission even if those policies do not match
your needs.

Does he have detailed product knowledge?

The insurance advisor should have an in-depth knowledge of all the

products that his insurance company offers. It has been observed many a
times that the advisor does not possess complete and accurate
information about the products that he is selling. In our view, an advisor
should not only have detailed information about all the products that his
company offers, but also he should be well versed about the products
from other life insurance companies, in order to answer the queries on
that count effectively.

Does he provide timely after sales service?

The job of an insurance advisor does not end once the policy has been
bought. He should provide you with regular updates on the policy status
in terms of premium payments, declaration of bonus and any other
important inputs that you need/would like to know. Not only this, your
insurance advisor should also keep you updated about the new policies
that can help you to reach for your financial goals.

Is he aware of all the formalities to be fulfilled towards claim?

An advisor assumes an important role at the time when a claim arises, as

he is the sole contact point between the policyholder and insurer. He
should have clear understanding of all the formalities that need to be
fulfilled at the time of claim.

An insurance advisor should be more than a sales-man who pushes

products that help minimise your tax liability. Insurance is a long-term
commitment and could be needed at different points in time in one's life.
Therefore, the advisor should be competent enough to service all your
requirements by providing comprehensive insurance-based solutions.

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 APPENDIX
Information to be used only for research purpose

The Questionnaire seeks your unbiased opinions as it is for research purpose

only. This is an attempt to assess your perceptions about the advisors processes
and functions. You are requested to kindly give your honest responses. Your
responses will be kept confidential.

Personal Data Form

Name___________________________________________
Contact No._______________________________________
Gender Male____________ Female____________
Designation______________________________________
Organization______________________________________
Experience in insurance sector (No. of years) _________________________
Questionnaire

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Instructions: For each statement, please write the number in the space provided
to indicate your degree of agreement according to the following scale-
1 2 3 4 5
Strongly agree Agree Uncertain Disagree Strongly
disagree
1. An advisor should possess excellent and proven salesmanship skill.
____________

2. An advisor should have knowledge of human nature and psychology.

____________

3. He should have a sound knowledge of the product, his institution, his

competitors and entire financial market. _____________

4. He should have a regular and systematic business production with a

time-bound plan._______________

5. He should have an increasing and decent income and increasing

clients. ____________

6. He should derive enormous job satisfaction. _______________

7. He should follow proper business ethics and accepted code of

conduct. ____________

8. All his actions should be consumer oriented._______________

9. He should be accepted as a friend, philosopher and guide by his

clients.____________

10.His public recognition in the institution will also be enlightened by

qualifying for special honours.________________

11.He must possess and develop an undeterred determination to succeed

as a Life Insurance Salesman._____________

Reason for the inactivation of advisors

12.Advisor turn inactivate because of he is unable to give the result as
desire by the organization.________________

13.He turns to give more priority to other works and perform as advisor
only as part time._________________

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14.He is unable to convince the customer to buy the
product.______________

15. He is unable meet the complex need of customer._____________

16.He is unable to establish relationship with the customer.__________

17.Do you feel pressure for recruiting the advisors form your
organization?___________

18.Higher educated agents give better results.________________

19.Younger agents perform better or are more result oriented________

20. Do you feel most of the agents take the job as part time . __________

21. Please recommended your feeling for recruiting quality

advisor.____________

22.What steps can be taken for reduction deactivation of advisors?

32