History of LIC

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) started its journey in 1956 when 245 Indian and foreign insurers and provident societies were nationalised by the central government. Thereafter, the LIC was formed by an Act of Parliament, viz. Life Insurance Corporation Act, 1956. Its objective was to enhance the reach of life insurance, especially in rural areas. In addition to the LIC Act, 1956, the company’s operations are also subject to the provisions under the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999. In 1989, an associate company recognised as LIC Housing Finance Ltd. was set up. The LIC Mutual Fund was created as a trust in the same year. In 1995, the company also launched the Rural Group Life Insurance Plan. It began its operations in Qatar and Nepal in 1999 and 2000. In 2002, the company’s first Info Centre was inaugurated in Mumbai and call centres were set up in 8 locations across the country. In 2006, LIC established its Golden Jubilee Foundation to support projects such as the construction of hospitals, schools, old age homes, etc. and provide scholarships to meritorious students from marginalised communities. In 2020, LIC was designated as a Domestic Systemically Important Insurer (D-SII). The LIC IPO took place in 2022 and the shares were listed on BSE and NSE on May 17, 2022. LIC is the largest insurance company in India and has a majority share in the market, in terms of both new and overall premiums earned every year. It is also the largest asset manager in India. Its investments in listed stocks account for more than 4% of the total market capitalisation of all the stocks on the NSE. It also holds a greater amount of government bonds than the RBI.

Business Segments of LIC

LIC is engaged in the business of life insurance both in India and outside it. The corporation's life insurance business comprises individual life and group business. As of September 2023, LIC’s individual product portfolio in India includes 32 individual products (16 participating products and 16 non-participating products) and 7 individual optional rider benefits. The Corporation’s group product portfolio in India includes 11 group products. LIC’s insurance policy categories include:

1. Insurance plans - This includes the following types of insurance schemes:
   1. Endowment plans such as Bima Jyoti, Bima Ratna, Dhan Vriddhi, Jeevan Azad, etc.
   2. Whole life plan such as Jeevan Umang
   3. Money back plans such as Dhan Rekha, New Bima Bachat, Jeevan Shiromani, etc.
   4. Term Assurance plans such as Jeevan Amar and Saral Jeevan Bima.
   5. Rider plans such as Linked Accidental Death Benefit Rider, Accident Benefit Rider, New Critical Illness Benefit Rider, etc.
2. Pension plans - These schemes include Jeevan Akshay VII, New Jeevan Shanti and Saral Pension.
3. Unit-linked insurance plans such as Nivesh Plus, SIIP, New Pension Plus and New Endowment Plus.
4. Micro-insurance Plans, including Bhagya Laxmi, New Jeevan Mangal and Micro Bachat Plan.
5. Health plans such as Cancer Cover and Arogya Rakshak.

LIC also offers schemes in the form of group gratuity, group superannuation, group leave encashment, group immediate annuity, etc. LIC has an omnichannel distribution platform that, among others, comprises:

• individual agents
• bancassurance partners
• alternate channels such as corporate agents, brokers, and insurance marketing firms
• digital sales
• Micro Insurance agents

As of October 2023, LIC also has two subsidiaries to take care of different associated businesses. These subsidiaries include:

1. In 2008, LIC established a subsidiary named LIC Cards Services Limited, to offer credit card services.
2. In 2007, LIC Pension Fund Limited was also set up as a subsidiary. The primary objective of the company is to act as a fund manager for managing the funds received from NPS Trust.

LIC also has multiple associate companies, such as LIC Housing Finance Ltd., LIC Mutual Fund Asset Management Ltd. and IDBI Bank Ltd., among others.

LIC Management Team

• Mr. M. Jagannath, Managing Director

Before becoming the Managing Director of LIC in 2023, Mr. Jagannath had served as Zonal Manager of the South Central Zone. Before that, he was also the CEO and MD of LIC (Lanka) Ltd. between 2009 and 2013. He joined the organisation as a Direct Recruit Officer in 1988. He was a commerce graduate with degrees in CA (Inter), a PG Diploma in Marketing, an International PG Diploma in Life Insurance, and General Insurance & Risk Management from the Institute of Insurance and Risk Management (IIRM), Hyderabad.

LIC Corporate Actions

• Mergers and Acquisitions

In 2018, LIC acquired the controlling stake in the IDBI Bank by buying the government’s stake in the latter. LIC has not announced any stock splits, rights issues or bonus shares so far.

LIC Financial Highlights

1. LIC has always made a positive net profit in the past few years. However, between FY 2021-22 and FY 2022-23, its net profit jumped by 800% while its sales grew by 8.47%.
2. LIC has a return on capital employed (ROCE) of 149% as of September 2023.
3. It has virtually zero debt as well as a quick ratio of 3.14.
4. As of September 2023, its P/E ratio of 9.2 is much lower than the industry P/E ratio of 48.6.