LIC IPO Coming Soon: All you Need to Know about India's Favourite Insurance Company Before Investing

LIC IPO: The central government gears up to launch the mega initial public offering (IPO) of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), which is to be launched soon. The government is planning to raise up to Rs 1 lakh crore through the sale of shares in the LIC IPO, which could be India’s biggest IPO to date. LIC, which is a household name in India, reaches practically every corner of the country. The Mumbai-headquartered company has 2,000 branches, more than 100,000 employees and 286 million policies.

A report by IIFL Securities has detailed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats analysis of the LIC IPO. Here are key things to know for policyholders who may want to subscribe to Life Insurance Corporation’s upcoming IPO

LIC IPO: Key Products

Life insurers provide cover against mortality (death) and morbidity risks (illness), apart from savings products. The range of products includes term assurance, annuities, endowments, pension plans and unit-linked saving plans (ULIPs) to suit varying needs.

LIC IPO: Growth Prospects

It has a slew of investments throughout companies — private and public — that allows the company to grow organically while providing them with capital support. It has two subsidiaries and four associate companies that look after its pension fund, housing finance, mutual fund, banking, and cards business. LIC has the strongest network of agents in the country. As of March 2021, it had over 13.5 lakh agents across the country.

LIC IPO: What Opportunities Lie Ahead

IIFL Securities said the company has the ability to expand its product portfolio and cater to customers by introducing even more products depending on the needs of the customers. “The company should look forward to expanding its footprints into new geographies with new products,” it said. The report also said LIC should focus on spending heavily on advertising and marketing to create new product offerings and cater to new-age customers.

LIC has a high disposable income, which can be put to use by investing in new-age companies, from which even LIC can benefit in terms of technology advancement and make a high return, the report advocated.

LIC IPO: Competetive Insurance Industry

Life insurance is a competitive industry. Despite LIC being a market leader, private companies compete with LIC in terms of better service. Moreover, the report said, “The company lacks in giving proper service to their customers due to their traditional way of doing business.”

LIC is also one of the largest employers in the country and shouldering this responsibility of enabling employment, it rarely invests in technology to improve its efficiency. Plus, the government often intervenes in the business where “maximum growth and income is involved,” the report said. This affects the “decision making and utilisation of its resources.” As compared with private players, LIC’s expenditure on advertisement is low, as shown by the “quality of ads and content they create.”

LIC IPO: What are the Major Concerns?

“LIC has to abide by the rules and regulations laid down by the government. This puts limitations on the growth of the company,” the report said, adding that the company has invested in many loss-making companies in the past due to policies laid by the government.

It further mentioned the mis-selling attributes of LIC agents, saying the company doesn’t have a complete hold on the agents. “In order to gain personal interest, the agents mis-sell the customers with policies not required by them due to which LIC losses the customer’s trust,” the report mentioned.

LIC restricts its chances of catering to the young urban population by following traditional methods. They do not have a liberty “to garner new technologies and means of distribution,” it said.

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