I have said this in the past too….and saying it again… “I have NO clue about what attracts big companies to the financial services sector” – repeat a zillion times. None of the so called ‘big groups’ have ever done well in financial services. Whether it is the Tatas, Birlas, Sundaram,….really only Hdfc as […]

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  A few reader queries and their answers: 1) Do you think pension policies from insurance companies make up for a good investment for availing pension?  Why or  why not? Answer: No. They do not. First of all thanks to some Quixotic regulations no life insurance company is selling a pension plan, so this question […]

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A friend sent me a long list of life insurance policies that he had. It was only long – and literally carried no weight. None of the life insurance was bought because he needed insurance. The people who sold him policies were his doctor’s wife, his wife’s aunt, a colleague, a bank Relationship manager – […]

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A bank needs more money to be lent onward. A life insurance company needs to sell more life policies, a mutual fund needs more assets to manage… So what can they do? Well a bank can increase interest rates, improve the services, give you more services, give you a locker, create better products….etc. etc. However, […]

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Just finished watching a TV serial (real life program I believe) called ‘Crime Patrol’! One Nationalised bank had opened a bank account – without proper papers, and not remembering the basic Anti Money Laundering lesson 101. The story is very simple, but shocking. There is a death claim which is fraudulently encashed by a Branch […]

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A few days back Safalniveshak posted a comment saying his friend’s father was cheated by an agent who had sold him 192 schemes in 192 folios. He called it bad and disgusting. Let us look at the whole process. A mutual fund or a life insurance company gets a LICENSE to do business in their […]

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Every channel, magazine and blog tells you to buy Term insurance…right? Now the industry is much, much smarter than the customer – so they have come up with many, many variants of term insurance! More about that later…but let us see what gives you comfort: 1. Buy term insurance on the net: it is the […]

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