Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance Launches Child’s Future Assured Plan

Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance (ABSLI), the life insurance subsidiary of Aditya Birla Capital Limited (ABCL), has launched a one-of-its-kind insurance plan called ABSLI Child’s Future Assured Plan. It aims at assured returns combined with protection, to financially secure a child’s future milestones. 

This child plan offers guaranteed returns and is a non-linked non-participating life insurance plan. ABSLI Child’s Future Assured Plan enables you to plan for child’s two significant milestones - education & marriage by providing the required cash flow to help you meet your goals for your child’s future. It has an in-built Waiver of Premium element that ensures that the policy continues in case anything unfortunate happens to the life insured. This plan offers the flexibility to choose periodic pay-outs of 3, 6 or 9 years to plan for child’s education and a lumpsum at the desired milestone, to plan for marriage. The customer can also avail the option to receive both, guaranteed regular income to plan for their child’s high school, graduation, and post-graduation expenses and guaranteed lump sum as corpus for marriage related expenses.

The plan can be tailor-made and customized basis an individual’s requirement by opting for solutions such as flexible benefit options, premium paying term, death benefit, and additional riders. It offers the choice to enhance risk cover up to 200% of Sum Assured. This plans also enhances the benefits by providing Loyalty Additions of 20% of each pay-out for policies, where all the premiums have been paid through the premium paying term (PPT).

Policyholder can avail assured pay-outs and high sum assured rebate with maximum guaranteed benefits, to plan for his/her child’s education, marriage, or both together by opting from any of the following options:

* Education Milestone: Option to receive guaranteed annual pay-outs for 3/6/9 years as per the need for child’s education preferably on child’s age from 15 to 21 years.

* Marriage Milestone: Option to receive a guaranteed lump sum on maturity for a child’s marriage fund preferably on child’s age from 24 to 32 years.

* Education and Marriage Milestones: Option to receive both guaranteed income and a lump sum for a child’s education & marriage.

Death Benefit: In the event of unfortunate death of Life insured, any premiums due thereafter will be waived off and nominee will continue to receive scheduled Assured pay-outs. The nominee can also avail the option to receive a lump sum of future Assured pay-outs at a discounted rate. 

Commenting on the launch, Kamlesh Rao, MD & CEO, Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance said, “Building and sustaining wealth corpus for child’s important milestones has always been the topmost priority for every parent. During such unprecedented times, protection for your child’s dreams and goals becomes a matter of utmost importance, hence the need for creating a tailored solution, which provides guaranteed returns for addressing your child’s future needs. We believe that ABSLI Child’s Future Assured Plan is a distinctive product with assured pay-outs, which will cater to suit financial goals of parents and a defined corpus will ensure peace of mind."

Key Benefits

• Comprehensive planning for your child’s future: Plan for your child’s education, marriage or both life stage needs together under one product

• Guaranteed Benefits: All benefits are fully guaranteed 

• Enhanced value for loyal customer: Get 20% extra on each benefit as & when due as loyalty addition

• Flexibility to plan according to your desired milestone: Pick a PPT & Assured Benefit Payment Term  as per your desired milestone

• Enhanced risk coverage: Choice of enhancing risk cover up to 200% of Sum Assured to provide financial security to your loved ones in case of any exigency. Additionally, enhance coverage through riders.

• Policy Continuance Benefit: We shall pay the monies at your desired milestones and the policy shall continue as is even in  your absence

• High Sum Assured Rebate available

About Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance, an Aditya Birla Capital Company 

Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited (ABSLI), is a life insurance subsidiary of Aditya Birla Capital Ltd (ABCL). ABSLI was incorporated on August 4th, 2000 and commenced operations on January 17th, 2001. ABSLI is a 51:49 a joint venture between the Aditya Birla Group and Sun Life Financial Inc., a leading international financial services organization in Canada.

Formerly known as Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited, ABSLI is one of India’s leading life insurance companies offering a range of products across the customer’s life cycle, including children future plans, wealth protection plans, retirement and pension solutions, health plans, traditional term plans and Unit Linked Insurance Plans (“ULIPs”).

As of March 2020, total AUM of ABSLI Stood at Rs. 411,261 million. ABSLI recorded a gross premium income of Rs. 80,100 million in FY 2019-20 and registering a y-o-y growth of 7% in Gross Premium with Individual Business FYP at Rs 18,036 Mn. ABSLI is currently ranked 7th in Individual Business (Individual FYP adjusted for 10% single premium) (Source: IRDAI reported Financials). ABSLI has a nation-wide distribution presence through 397 branches, 8 bancassurance partners, 6 distribution channels, over 82,000 direct selling agents, other Corporate Agents and Brokers and through its website. The company has over 13,000 employees and more than 17 lac active customers.

Citi, Pepsico ranked among best cos for 'corp transparency'

Citigroup may be surviving on taxpayers money but the Vikram Pandit-led entity along with Pepsico, another firm led by an India-born chief executive Indra Nooyi, have been named among the best companies for corporate transparency by an American publication.

The 10th annual list of '100 Best Corporate Citizens 2009' by Corporate Responsibility Officer (CRO) magazine features US firms ranked for their activities in various areas including governance and employee relations.

Citi is ranked at the 35th spot while Indra Nooyi-led Pepsico is placed at the 85th spot.

Pharma major Bristol Myers-Squibb has topped the league of 100 followed by food retailer General Mills and technology giant IBM at the second and third positions, respectively.

Regarding the list, CRO noted, "when someone next asks you to define 'corporate transparency,' show them this..."

The ranking of the companies are based on activities in seven categories -- environment, climate change, human rights, philanthropy, employee relations, financial and governance.

"This list also proves that 10 years is a long time on the corporate responsibility timeline. Only three companies have made the list all 10 years: Intel, Cisco and Starbucks. Nearly 400 companies have appeared on the list over the past 10 years, including 48, by our count, that no longer exist.

"... the 100 Best List is the best-known annual snapshot of the leaders," the magazine said in an accompanying report.

Compiled by IW Financial and edited by CRO, the ranking is "completely based on publicly available information."

Other companies which have made it to the list are pharma entities Merck & Co (4th rank) and Abbott Laboratories (8), computer hardware makers HP Co (5) and Cisco Systems Inc (6), toy manufacturer Mattel (7), personal care products firm Kimberly-Clark Corp (9) and utilities entity Entergy Corp (10).

The ranking assigns maximum weight of 19.5 per cent to environment and employee relations. Climate change and human rights have a weights of 16.5 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively.

Citi has been severely battered in the ongoing financial turmoil, forcing the government to pump in billions of dollars into the financial services entity.

Already, the company has received 45 billion dollars of fresh capital apart from the US guaranteeing assets worth more than 300 billion dollars.

Agencies

About 1 lakh Indians will return from US in next 3-5 years

As many as 100,000 Indians and an equal number of Chinese will return to their native countries in the next three to five years, a move that will greatly boost their economies and undermine technological innovation in America, a new US study warns.

The study on immigration by a team at Duke, Harvard and Berkeley universities led by Vivek Wadhwa, an Indian-American technology entrepreneur turned academic, says "America's loss is the world's gain".

There are no hard numbers available on how many have returned, but anecdotal evidence shows that this is in the tens of thousands, says Wadhwa, executive-in-residence for the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University and fellow at the Labour and Worklife Programme at Harvard Law School.

"With the economic downturn, my guess is that we'll have over 100,000 Indians and as many Chinese return home over the next three-five years," says Wadhwa. "This flood of western educated and skilled talent will greatly boost the economies of India and China and strengthen their competitiveness.

"India is already becoming a global hub for R&D. This will allow it to branch into many new areas and will accelerate the trend," he says.

"The US has always had the luxury of being arrogant about immigration because it has been the strongest magnet for the world's best and brightest," but as the study shows "there are other strong magnets now".

"We are effectively exporting our economic stimulus. Policies like those which the US just enacted which prevents some banks from hiring foreign workers will have the opposite effect from what they intended - they will send jobs abroad and scare away top talent," Wadhwa said.

The study released on Monday Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, based in Kansas City, Montana, indicates placing limits on foreign workers in the US is not the answer to America's rising unemployment rate and may undermine efforts to spur technological innovation.

"A substantial number of highly skilled immigrants have started returning to their home countries in recent years, draining a key source of brain power and innovation," said Robert E. Litan, vice president of Research and Policy at the Kauffman Foundation.

"We wanted to know what is encouraging this much-needed economic growth engine to leave our country, thereby sending entrepreneurship and economic stimulus to places like Bangalore and Beijing."

The report builds on an earlier Kauffman Foundation report by Wadhwa documenting a queue of one million H-1B holders and their families anxiously awaiting longer-term work visas and growing frustrated with the immigration process.

Until recently, America has been the prime destination for the world's best and brightest immigrants. "Immigrants have made tremendous personal sacrifices," said Wadhwa. "They would leave behind relatives and friends and accept second-tier status in American society.

"Now countries like India and China are providing equal career opportunities and a better quality of life. So the most highly educated and skilled are often returning home."

The two-year study covered 1,203 Indian and Chinese subjects who had studied or worked in the US for a year or more before returning home.

Agencies