Please refer to R Balakrishnan’s views on “Insurance vs Mutual Funds” in MoneyLIFE of 9 October 2008. It makes interesting reading. However, some facts need clarity. For instance, he says that “the commission can be as high as 40% of the first year’s premium.” Are you referring to this rate of commission in general or particularly to unit linked insurance plans (ULIPs)? You need to be very...

Stick to what is safe, even if the returns are not very high

Over the past nine months, the Sensex dived precipitously from a high of over 21,000 to nearly a third of its value when it sank to 7,700 (intra-day) on 27th October. Millions of retail investors have suffered heavy losses on equity as well as ‘safer investments’ such as mutual funds, unit linked insurance plans (ULIPs), fixed...