HDFC plans IPO for insurance business in two years

Housing Development Finance Corporation(HDFC) on Friday said that it may come out with an initial public offering (IPO) for its insurance business in about two years. 

"We are planning to come up with an IPO for insurance in two years," HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh said at the annual general meeting ( AGM )) of the company. 

Parekh said the new Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) guidelines that allow life insurers to float an IPO without three year profitability clause would help but said the firm would need to discuss about it with its partner Standard Life. 

He said Standard Life would have to increase its stake to 49 per cent from the current 26 per cent, so that part of its shares (the increased stake) can be offered to the investors. 


Source- Economic times

IRDA scraps profit rule for life insurance IPOs

The insurance regulator has scrapped the minimum three year profitability clause for life insurers to float initial public offerings, throwing a lifeline for many companies that would have struggled for capital. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority , or Irda, took the decision in a recent board meeting, two people familiar with the matter said. 

The decision to do away with the requirement, which was part of the draft guidelines for IPOs, follows lobbying by insurance firms that the absence of higher foreign investment and access to public funds could cripple their businesses. Valuing insurance companies in India may become tricky with some arguing they are at a growth stage and the market has huge potential. While insurers may look for high valuations due to market potential, their losses could be talked down as it happened in the case of dotcom companies. The insurance regulator had prescribed a minimum embedded value for which the insurers objected to and sought flexibility. 


SOURCE-http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/personal-finance/insurance/insurance-news/irda-scraps-profit-rule-for-life-insurance-ipos/articleshow/9131020.cms

Insurance and Finance

Insurance and Finance is a research programme set up by the Geneva Association, also known as the International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics. This research programme on insurance and finance comprises academic and professional research activities in the fields of finance where they are relevant to the insurance and risk management sector.The aim of the research programme is dedicated to making an original contribution to the progress of insurance through different initiatives in the field of insurance finance. It engages in: highlighting issues of key importance, promoting studies of the function of finance in insurance, discussing the relevance of financial concepts and instruments to the industry, detecting new and promising theoretical developments, and diffusing knowledge and the results of research worldwide.