What are ULIPs?

ULIPs : An introduction

Most importantly, what are ULIPs?
Here, you will find all the information you need to set your mind at ease about how to invest in ULIPs, and which ULIP is right for you.

ULIPs are a category of goal-based financial solutions that combine the safety of insurance protection with wealth creation opportunities. In ULIPs, a part of the investment goes towards providing you life cover. The residual portion of the ULIP is invested in a fund which in turn invests in stocks or bonds; the value of investments alters with the performance of the underlying fund opted by you.

Simply put, ULIPs are structured in such that the protection element and the savings element are distinguishable, and hence managed according to your specific needs. In this way, the ULIP plan offers unprecedented flexibility and transparency.

Working of ULIPs

It is critical that you understand how your money gets invested once you purchase a ULIP:
When you decide the amount of premium to be paid and the amount of life cover you want from the ULIP, the insurer deducts some portion of the ULIP premium upfront. This portion is known as the Premium Allocation charge, and varies from product to product. The rest of the premium is invested in the fund or mixture of funds chosen by you. Mortality charges and ULIP administration charges are thereafter deducted on a periodic (mostly monthly) basis by cancellation of units, whereas the ULIP fund management charges are adjusted from NAV on a daily basis.

Since the fund of your choice has an underlying investment either in equity or debt or a combination of the two your fund value will reflect the performance of the underlying asset classes. At the time of maturity of your plan, you are entitled to receive the fund value as at the time of maturity. The pie-chart below illustrates the split of your ULIP premium: