Investment and Insurance Plan-Why you should invest in Ulips now

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) clamped down in 2010, capping the annualised charges of Ulips at 2.25% for the first 10 years of holding. The charges were fixed at this rate because it was the average cost charged by competing products such as mutual funds. With no incentive left for distributors, Ulip sales plunged.

In recent months, insurance companies have sweetened the deal for investors by reducing the charges even further. The Bajaj Allianz Future Gain plan does not levy premium allocation charges if the annual financial investment planning in Delhi  is Rs 2 lakh and above. The Edelweiss Tokio Wealth Accumulation Plan doesn't have policy administration charges. Some Ulips, such as Aviva i-Growth and ICICI Prudential Elite Life II, don't have lower charges but compensate long-term investors with 'loyalty additions'.

But the Click2Invest plan from HDFC Life is a game changer. The only charge it levies is an annual fund management fee of 1.35% of the corpus value. There is also a mortality charge but that is for the life cover offered to the policyholder. The low charges make the Click2invest plan cheaper than even the direct plan of a diversified equity fund. For instance, the direct plan of the largest equity scheme, HDFC Equity Fund, charges an expense ratio of 1.5% per year.

Some readers may pooh-pooh the idea of saving a sliver on costs. After all, a 0.15% saving on costs makes a difference of only `150 on an investment of Rs 1 lakh. While this may seem small, the difference in the cost can balloon into substantial savings in the long term.