WEST BENGAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

SUMMER PROJECT REPORT ON CHANNEL DEVELOPMENT IN INSURANCE BUSINESS & SALES OF LIFE INSURANCE PRODUCTS AT

AGRA BY VIPIN KUMAR REGISTRATION No: 111360710116 of 2011-2012 ROLL No: 13600911116

ARMY INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, KOLKATA

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This project has been a learning experience for me and I would like to express my gratitude towards all those people who guided and supported me throughout and without whose support the execution of the tough task at hand would not have been successful.

I would specially like to thank my guide at Reliance Life Insurance Limited, Agra, Mr. Kailash Singh Parmar, Area Manager and Mr. Vishnukat Gupta, Sales Manager, for their continuous support, encouragement and guidance during the project.

I express sincere gratitude to my internal project guide Prof. Madhusudan Nandan of Army Institute of Management, Kolkata, who has been a source of knowledge and inspiration and a strong support during the project tenure.

I would like to thank all those people have directly and indirectly been useful to me for the successful completion

GUIDANCE CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr. Vipin Kumar, WBUT Registration No. :

111360710116 of 20112012, WBUT Roll Number 13600911116 , has undertaken

the project titled Channel Development in Insurance Business under our guidance from 6 June 2012 to 5 July 2012 at Reliance Life Insurance Ltd. Agra and has completed the said project successfully.
th th

External Guide Kailash Singh Parmar Area Manager Reliance Life Insurance, Agra

Organizations Seal

Internal Guide: Dr. Madhusudan Nandan AIM, Kolkata

CONTENTS Executive Summary ... 5 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Industry Profile ... 6 1.2 Company Profile . 12

CHAPTER 2: PROJECT DETAILS 2.1 Objective . 16 2.2 Literature Review .... 17 2.3 Purpose of the project & scope of the study ... 20 2.4 Research Methodology 21

CHAPTER 3: PROJECT FINDINGS & ANALYSIS 3.1 SWOT Analysis . 35 3.2 Findings . 37 3.3 Conclusion . 38 3.4 Recommendation ... 39 3.5 Limitations . 40

Bibliography .. 41 Appendix .... 42

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In todays corporate & competitive world, I find that Insurance sector has the maximum growth and potential as compared to other sectors. Insurance has the maximum growth rate of 70% - 80% while as FMCG sector has maximum 12% - 15% growth rate. This growth potential attracts me to enter in this sector and RELIANCE LIFE INSURANCE has given me the opportunity to work and get experience in highly competitive and enhancing sector. The success story of good market share of different market organizations depend on the availability of the products and services near to the customer, which can be distributed through a distribution channel. In Insurance sector, distribution channel includes only agents or agency holders of the company. If a company like RELIANCE LIFE INSURANCE, TATA AIA, MAX LIFE etc. have adequate agents in the market they can capture big market as compare to the other companies. Agents are the only way for a company of Insurance sector through which policies and benefits of the company can be explained to the customer.

The project Market segmentation of Channel Development in Insurance & Sales was carried out in mind with the following focus areas: To understand the role of Insurance agents in the Insurance sector. To know the IRDA requirements for an agent. Understanding the companys expectations from an agent. Contacting the potential candidates who would be willing to be an agent. Contacting potential candidates who are not willing and analyzing the reasons for unwillingness. Convincing candidates to become agents(life advisors) for Reliance Life Insurance Ltd. Ensuring proper documentation of clients for log-in. following up till the IRDA examination was taken. The steps that were followed to fulfill the said objectives are summarized as follows: Recognizing potential candidates from personal contact base on the basis of IRDA and Company requirements. Conducting an umbrella activity to generate leads. Telephone calls to candidates informing them about the role and benefits of being an Insurance agent. Following up with interested candidates through personal visits and telephone calls. Handling any objections in the minds of the candidates pertaining to the role of a life advisor. Setting up interviews with the appropriate authority in the branch office. Ensuring candidates possess necessary documentation and finances for log-in. Assisting candidates till IRDA examination. Many obstructions in the form of peoples perceptions were met with. The number of people contacted and the number of people willing to become agents differed considerably. The work required a high degree of patience, good communication skills and a good convincing power.

1.1 INSURANCE SECTOR

Insurance has a deep-rooted history in India. It finds mention in the writings of ancient Shastras. The writings talk in terms of pooling of resources that could be re-distributed in times of calamities such as fire, floods, epidemics and famine. This was probably a pre-cursor to modern day insurance. Ancient Indian history has preserved the earliest traces of insurance in the form of marine trade loans and carriers contracts. Insurance in India has evolved over time heavily drawing from other countries, England in particular. Insurance provides indemnity, or reimbursement, in the event of an unanticipated loss or disaster. There are different types of insurance policies and one can get cover for almost anything that one might think of. 1818 saw the advent of life insurance business in India with the establishment of the Oriental Life Insurance Company in Calcutta. This Company however failed in 1834. In 1829, the Madras Equitable had begun transacting life insurance business in the Madras Presidency. 1870 saw the enactment of the British Insurance Act and in the last three decades of the nineteenth century, the Bombay Mutual (1871), Oriental (1874) and Empire of India (1897) were started in the Bombay Residency. This era, however, was dominated by foreign insurance offices which did good business in India, namely Albert Life Assurance, Royal Insurance, Liverpool and London Globe Insurance and the Indian offices were up for hard competition from the foreign companies. In 1914, the Government of India started publishing returns of Insurance Companies in India. The Indian Life Assurance Companies Act, 1912 was the first statutory measure to regulate life insurance business. Government to collect statistical information about both life and non-life business transacted in India by Indian and foreign insurers including provident insurance societies. With a view to protect the interest of the Insurance public, the earlier legislation was consolidated and amended by the Insurance Act, 1938 with provisions for effective control over the activities of insurers The Insurance Amendment Act of 1950 abolished Principal Agencies. However, there were a large number of insurance companies and the level of competition was high. There were also allegations of unfair trade practices. The Government of India, therefore, decided to nationalize insurance business. An Ordinance was issued on 19th January, 1956 nationalizing the Life Insurance sector and Life Insurance Corporation came into existence in the same year. The LIC absorbed 154

Indian, 16 non-Indian insurers as also 75 provident societies245 Indian and foreign insurers in all. The LIC had monopoly till the late 90s when the Insurance sector was reopened to the private sector. In 1993, Malhotra Committee, headed by former Finance Secretary and RBI Governor R.N.Malhotra, was formed to evaluate the Indian insurance industry and recommend its future direction. The Malhotra Committee was set up with the objective of complementing the reforms initiated in the financial sector. The committee recommended throwing open the sector to private players to usher in competition and bring more choice to the consumer. The objective was to improve the penetration of insurance as percentage of GDP, which remains low in India even compared to some developing countries in Asia. Reforms were initiated with the passage of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) Bill in 1999. IRDA was set up as an independent regulatory authority, which has put in place regulations in line with global norms. A thriving insurance sector is of vital importance to every modern economy. First, because it encourages the savings habit and second, because it provides a safety net to rural and urban enterprises and productive individuals. In addition, perhaps most importantly it generates long-term investable funds for infrastructure building. The nature of the insurance business is such that the cash inflow of insurance companies is constant while the payout is deferred and contingency related. This characteristic of their business makes insurance companies the biggest investors in long gestation infrastructure development projects in all developed and aspiring nations. This is the most compelling reason why private sector (and foreign) companies which will spread the insurance habit in the societal and consumer interest are urgently required in this vital sector of the economy. The insurance sector in India has come a full circle from being an open competitive market to nationalization and back to a liberalized market again. Tracing the developments in the Indian insurance sector reveals a 360-degree turn witnessed over a period of almost two centuries. India, with about 200 million middle class households, presents a huge untapped potential for players in the insurance industry. Saturation of markets in many developed economies has made the Indian market even more attractive for global insurance majors. With per capita income in India expected to grow at over 6% for the next 10 years and with improvement in awareness levels, the demand for insurance is expected to grow at an attractive rate in India. A study shows that life insurance market will grow from Rs.218 billion in 1998 to Rs.1003 billion by 2008(a compounded annual growth of 16.5%).

Introduction of new players

The initiatives taken by the private players are very competitive and have given immense competition to the one time monopoly of LIC. Since the advent of the private players in the market the industry has seen new and innovative steps taken by the players in this sector. The service quality of the insurance industry has improved. Though LIC still holds 70% of the market share, the private players are giving close competition to LIC. Reforms have marked the entry of many of the global majors into the Indian market in the form of joint ventures with Indian companies. Some of the key names are TATA AIA, Max Life, Allianz, Prudential, Standard Life, Sun Life Canada and Old Mutual. LIC has responded to the competition in an admirable fashion by launching new products and improving service standards. Following are the key winds of change brought about by privatization.

Market Expansion: There has been an overall expansion in the market. This has been possible due to improved awareness levels thanks to a large number of advertising campaigns launched by all the players. The scope for expansion is still unlimited as virtually all the players are concentrating on large cities and towns except by LIC to an extent there was no significant attempt to tap the rural markets.

New Products on Offer: There has been a plethora of new and innovative products offered by the new players, mainly their international partners. Customers have choices from a large variety of products from pure term (risk) insurance to unit linked investment products.

Customer Service: This is an area that has witnessed the most significant changes with the entry of new players. There is an attempt to bring in international best practices in service and operational efficiency through the use of latest technologies. Advice and need based selling is emerging through much better trained sales force and financial consultants. There is improvement in response and turnaround times in specific areas such as delivery of first policy receipt, policy document, premium notice, final maturity payment, settlement of claims etc. However, there is a long way to go and various surveys indicate that the standards are still below international standards.

Channels of Distribution: Until two years back, the only mode of distribution of life insurance products was through agents. While agents continue to be the prominent distribution channel, today a number of innovative alternative channels are being offered to consumers. Some of them are bancassurance, brokers, the internet and direct marketing. The approval of institutions for imparting training to agents has also ensured that the insurance companies would have trained workforce of insurance agents to sell their products.

Growth of Indian Life Insurance Sector

One of the premium sectors showing upward growth is insurance, which is a US$ 41-billion industry in India. India is the fifth largest life insurance market in the emerging insurance economies globally and is growing at 32-34 per cent annually. With increasing competitiveness amongst these, the players are bringing out newer products to attract more customers into their kitty. Foreign direct investment (FDI) up to 26 per cent is permitted under the automatic route subject to obtain a licence from the official regulator, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA). The total number of life insurance companies operating in India is currently 22. Two major factors impacting the general insurance segment are the detariffing of interest rates by Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA), which gave autonomy to insurers in pricing insurance policies and has created a competitive field in general insurance business, the second being the financial meltdown, which has also mad.

Life Insurance
Essentially life insurance provides financial protection to the family and dependents of the insured in the event of any unforeseen event or untimely death. To cover one under a life insurance policy, an insurance company charges a certain sum of money (called the premium) periodically. The premium paid helps cover the risk that the life insurance company takes by insuring a persons life and in turn entitles his/her family to receive a fixed lump sum. The premium paid depends on a variety of factors including age, health and the amount of life cover to name a few. However, premiums are typically lower for younger, healthier people, so starting early is always beneficial.

Life Insurers : Aegon Religare, Aviva, Bajaj Allianz, Bharti AXA, Birla SunLife,
Canara HSBC, DLF Pramerica, Future Generali, HDFC Standard, ICICI Prulife, IDBI Fortis, IndiaFirst, ING Vysya, Reliance Life, Max Life, Metlife, Reliance, Sahara, SBI Life, Shriram, Star Union Diachi, Tata AIA, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance Co. Ltd LIC. The number of non-life insurers has increased to 24.

Basic functions of Insurance

Primary Functions Secondary Functions Other Functions

Primary functions of insurance:

Providing protection The elementary purpose of insurance is to allow security against future risk, accidents and uncertainty. Insurance cannot arrest the risk from taking place, but can allow for the losses arising with the risk. Insurance is in reality a protective cover against economic loss.

Collective risk bearing Insurance is an instrument to share the financial loss. It is a medium through which few losses are divided among larger number of people. All the insured add the premiums towards a fund and out of which the person facing a specific risk is paid. Evaluating risk Insurance fixes the likely volume of risk by assessing diverse factors that give rise to risk. Risk is the basis for ascertaining the premium rate as well.

Secondary functions of insurance:

Preventing losses Insurance warns individuals and businessmen to embrace appropriate devices to prevent unfortunate aftermaths of risk by observing safety instructions eg: installation of automatic sparkler, alarm systems.

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Covering larger risks with small capital Insurance assuages the businessmen from security investments. This is done by paying small amount of premium against larger risks and dubiety. Helps in the development of larger industriesInsurance provides an opportunity to develop to larger industries which have more risks in their setting up.

Other functions of insurance:

A savings and investment tool Insurance is the best savings and investment option, restricting unnecessary expenses by the insured. Also to take the benefit of income tax exemptions, people take up insurance as a good investment option.

Medium of earning foreign exchange Being an international business, any country can earn foreign exchange by way of issue of marine insurance policies.

Risk Free trade Insurance boosts exports insurance, making foreign trade risk free with the help of different types of policies under marine insurance cover. .

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1.2 COMPANY PROFILE

Few men in history have made as dramatic a contribution to their countrys economic fortunes as did the founder of Reliance, Shri. Dhirubhai H Ambani. Fewer still have left behind a legacy that is more enduring and timeless. As with all great pioneers, there is more than one unique way of describing the true genius of Dhirubhai: The corporate visionary, the unmatched strategist, the proud patriot, the leader of men, the architect of Indias capital markets, the champion of shareholder interest. But the role Dhirubhai cherished most was perhaps that of Indias greatest wealth creator. In one lifetime, he built, starting from the proverbial scratch, Indias largest private sector enterprise. When Dhirubhai embarked on his first business venture, he had a seed capital of barely US$ 300 (around `14,000). Over the next three and a half decades, he converted this fledgling enterprise into a ` 60,000 crore colossusan achievement which earned Reliance a place on the global Fortune 500 list, the first ever Indian private company to do so. Dhirubhai is widely regarded as the father of Indias capital markets. In 1977, when Reliance Textile Industries Limited first went public, the Indian stock market was a place patronised by a small club of elite investors which dabbled in a handful of stocks. Undaunted, Dhirubhai managed to convince a large number of first-time retail investors to participate in the unfolding Reliance story and put their hard-earned money in the Reliance Textile IPO, promising them, in exchange for their trust, substantial return on their investments. It was to be the start of one of great stories of mutual respect and reciprocal gain in the Indian markets. Under Dhirubhais extraordinary vision and leadership, Reliance scripted one of the greatest growth stories in corporate history anywhere in the world, and went on to become Indias largest private sector enterprise. Through out this amazing journey, Dhirubhai always kept the interests of the ordinary shareholder uppermost in mind, in the process making millionaires out of many of the initial investors in the Reliance stock, and creating one of the worlds largest shareholder families.

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The Reliance Group is among Indias top three private sector business houses on all major financial parameters, with assets in excess of Rs.180,000 crore, and net worth to the tune of Rs.89,000 crore. Across different companies, the group has a customer base of over 100 million, the largest in India, and a shareholder base of over 12 million, among the largest in the world. Through its products and services, the Reliance Group touches the life of 1 in 10 Indians every single day. It has a business presence that extends to over 20000 towns and 4.5 lakhs villages in India, and 5 continents across the world. The interests of the Group range from communications (Reliance Communications) and financial services (Reliance Capital Ltd), to generation, transmission and distribution of power (Reliance Energy), infrastructure and entertainment.

Reliance Life Insurance

Reliance Life Insurance offer customers products that fulfill their savings and protection needs. Reliances aim is to emerge as a transnational Life Insurer of global scale and standard. Reliance Life Insurance is a Reliance Capital Company and is part of Reliance Group. Reliance Capital is one of Indias leading private sector financial services companies, and ranks among the top 3 private sector financial services and banking companies, in terms of net worth. Reliance Capital has interests in asset management and mutual funds, stock broking, life and general insurance, proprietary investments, private equity and other activities in financial services. Nippon Life Insurance Company acquired 26% interest in equity share capital of the Company effective October 7, 2011 subsequent to receipt of all regulatory approval. Nippon Life Insurance, also called Nissay, is Japan's largest private life insurer with revenues of Rs 346,834 crore (US$ 80 Billion) and profits of over Rs 12,199 crore (US$ 3 billion). The Company has over 14 million policies in Japan, offers a wide range of products, including individual and group life and annuity policies through various distribution channels and mainly uses face-to-face sales channel for its traditional insurance products. The company primarily operated in Japan , North America, Europe and Asia and is headquartered in Osaka, Japan. It is ranked 81st in Global Fortune 500 firms in 2011.

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PRODUCTS OF RELIANCE LIFE

Whole Life Plans

Term plans

Unit Linked Insurance Plans

Endowment Plans

Children Plan

Money Back Plans

Pension Plans

Health & Accident Related Riders

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Vision & Mission

Vision Empowering everyone live their dreams. Mission Create unmatched value for everyone through dependable, effective, transparent and profitable life insurance and pension plans.

Our Goal
Reliance Life Insurance would strive hard to achieve the 3 goals mentioned below:

Emerge as transnational Life Insurer of global scale and standard Create best value for Customers, Shareholders and all Stake holders Achieve impeccable reputation and credentials through best business practices

Achievements

Largest Private Life Insurance in terms of Number of Policies for two consecutive years as of 31st March 2012 A wide network of 1230 branches and 1,50,000 advisors Over 9 million policies RLIC continues to be amongst the foremost Life Insurance companies in India to be certified ISO 9008:2001 Winner of Best Non-Urban Coverage Award at Indian Insurance Awards 2011 RLICs Boundaries for Books Campaign won the 'Silver' at the Indian Digital Media Awards (IDMA) 2012, under Best Integrated Campaign Social Cause and Best Use of Social Network Social Cause Amongst the top 3 Most Trusted Service Brands in the Insurance category as per the Brand Equitys Most Trusted Service Brands 2011 Survey

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2.1 OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT

To study the existing channel development process of RELIANCE LIFE. Customer & potential agents perceptions about insurance as a product category. To study the existing compensation for agents of RELIANCE LIFE. To sell the RELIANCE LIFE products.

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2.2 LITERATURE REVIEW

Competition in Life Insurance Sector of India

Shilpa Thakur, Amity Law School 2009-10 The life insurance sector has a small market and cover approx. 3 % of population in India. As a growing sector, it is important that all players get a level playing field. The competition act is to provide for a level playing field to all players to encourage competition in market. Through my study I have tried to substantiate this with facts and evidence proving that LIC as a state owned enterprise enjoys a dominant market. The enterprise having a dominant position is not per se illegal but abuse is. The dominance of LIC is not deliberate rather it is by virtue of the regulations that the market is deprived of a level playing field and market has an anti-competitive environment. This sector is highly lucrative and therefore increasing the FDI cap would be a step to enhance competition in this sector and also cover a large population. Exclusive networking, sovereign guarantee and entry barriers like limited FDI creates an anti-competitive environment in market.

Sales Force Turnover: An Exploratory Study of the Indian Insurance Sector

Suman pathak ,iilm Academy of Higher Learning, India Vibhuti tripathi ,Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, India The insurance sector in India is rising rapidly to bring in growth and employment opportunities. Insurance companies are basically human intensive, and human resources act as an undoubted differentiator. Quality manpower and its retention would act as a litmus test. Turnover of sales force has been high because of low entry and exit barriers. The paper addresses issues of recruitment, retention and turnover of sales force in insurance companies. An attempt is made to integrate them to Maslows Need Hierarchy. A survey was conducted among 350 employees who worked in or had left insurance companies to analyze factors that inuenced their decisions and job satisfaction. The data were treated with factor analysis. Factors such as Safety & Security, Social & Esteem and Personal Work Style emerged as the inuencers to join insurance companies. Primary Needs and Social & Self Esteem Needs were the factors associated with job satisfaction; Stress, Career Advancement and Work Environment emerged as factors for leaving the companies.

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Contemporary issues in marketing of life insurance services in india

Mr. Manvendra pratap singh*; ms. arpita chakraborty**; *assistant professor, department of management studies, Galgotias college of engineering and technology, Insurance and economic development in India exhibits a direct positive correlation on the growth path. Insurance companies, both life and nonlife, have been playing the role of financial intermediaries and performing extremely useful functions in our economy. In India, insurance sector was opened for private participation with the enactment of the IDRA Act, 1999. Since then, 22 private companies have been established in life insurance sector. All these players are actively introducing innovative products to meet the specific needs of the prospective policy holders. However, life insurance companies, particularly private sector players, give more attention in selling unit linked plans that are not suited to the real needs of the insured. Of the various alternative distribution channels, agency is still dominating and the successful one. Given poor level of consumer awareness, strong customer education programs and promotional strategies are the immediate requirements. Exploring more distribution channels of micro insurance for untapped rural market is extremely important. Further more customer service is the key for the success and life insurance companies therefore should give more attention in post sales services rather than presales services. Overall, our paper shows the important aspects of life insurance marketing activity from a services perspective and highlights the contemporary issues and challenges facing the life insurance companies in product marketing.

Life Insurance Industry in India - Current Scenario

Dr. Sonika Chaudhary, Priti Kiran RGI, Mohali, Punjab, India September -2011 When life insurance companies started operating in the middle of 20th century in the country, the evil play natural to all business had its sway. There was a lot of cut throat competition as well as profiteering. As a result Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) came into existence on 1st September, 1956 after nationalization of all the 245 companies engaged in life insurance business. However, Government made a paradigm shift in the economic policy by adopting the process of liberalization, privatization and globalization at the end of previous decade. Consequently, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has been established under IRDA Act, 1999 to regulate the insurance business in the country. As a result, private sector has been allowed entry both in general and life insurance sector in India. Life insurance industry expanded tremendously from 2000 onwards in terms of number of offices, number of agents, new business policies, premium income etc. Further, many new
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products (like ULIPs, pension plans etc.) and riders were provided by the life insurers to suit the requirements of various customers.

BANCASSURANCE NEW OPTIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SERBIAN FINANCIAL SECTOR

Borko Krsti, Faculty of Economics, University of Ni, Serbia Nevenka Vojvodi-Miljkovi , Razvojna Banka Vojvodine a.d, Novi Sad, Serbia Dejan Mandi , Delta Generali Osiguranje, Belgrade, Serbia

In difficult conditions of the global economic crisis, the insurance market manages to grow faster than the long-term global gross domestic product (GDP). Traditional barriers between banking and insurance are being increasingly lowered in the last few decades. This is a result of deregulation and liberalization of the financial services market, as well as a consequence of the appearance of giant financial companies capable of rendering a wide range of financial services. Banking distribution of insurance products is growing faster than traditional sales channels both in the developed and in developing countries, first in life and recently in nonlife insurance classes. Bank life insurance is strongly developed in some European countries and has reached high market shares, such as in France and Portugal. Bancassurance is also becoming a major component of the distribution system primarily of life insurance in developing countries, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, stimulated by the expansion of mortgage and consumer loans. In the past few years, bancassurance has been developing in Serbia, where it maintains an upward trend as a sales channel. In the near future, especially with the opening of new bank credit lines and the introduction of tax incentives by the state, this sales channel may bring significant benefits both to banks and insurance companies, as well as to clients in the form of offering all-in-one financial services aimed at saving time, lowering commissions and allowing premium.

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2.3 PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT

RELIANCE LIFE INSURANCE has the maximum job availability. They follow some process regarding the recruiting people. The need of the project during the course of my summer internship for Reliance life was to get an insight into the training modules and sessions given to their employees of the RELIANCE LIFE. Thus there was a need to design and build a competent training module thereby enhancing the competency levels and interpersonal skills of the employees of the company, so as to prepare them for providing better service to their customer.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

A big boom has been witnessed in Insurance Industry in recent times. A large number of new players have entered the market and are trying to gain market share in this rapidly improving market. In recent time also Reliance life has the highest employment. It is the 3 rd highest insurance company in India. In insurance sector a person can earn huge amount of money.

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2.4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Design:
Exploratory research

The research is primarily exploratory in nature. The sources of information are both primary & secondary. A well-structured questionnaire was prepared and interviews were conducted to collect the customers perception behavior and selling insurance through this questionnaire.

Sampling Technique:
Initially a rough draft was prepared keeping in mind the objective of the research. A pilot study was done in order to know the accuracy of the questionnaire. The final questionnaire was arrived only after certain important changes were done. Thus our sampling came out to be judgmental and convenient.

Sampling unit : The respondents who were asked to fill out questionnaire are the sampling units was 75. These comprise of Salaried employees, students, business Employees, and Self Employed etc.

Sampling Area: The area of the research was Agra region which comprises two branches of Reliance Life Insurance are Agra-1 & Agra-2. Research undertaken in Agra-1.

Sample size: The sample size was restricted to only 50, which comprised of mainly peoples from Agra.. It represents the whole unknown population.

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DATA COLLECTION:-

(a) Primary Quantitative Data Primary data collected specially from the field for the purpose of providing information on the decision under questionnaire. (b) Secondary Quantitative data These are the existing data. Secondary data collected from internal source and also from the external source. Internal source from companys record, which is already conducted found within the company and also from companys website. External source from client, advertising etc.

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CHAPTER 3: PROJECT FINDINGS & ANALYSIS 3.1 SWOT Analysis 3.2 Conclusion 3.3 Limitations 3.4 Recommendation

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1. Annual Income/Salary of respondents who are interested to buy insurance?

INTERPRETATION 53% respondents are interested to buy insurance who had annual income below 1oooo. They invest their money for saving purpose

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2.Do you have a Life Insurance?

INTERPRETATION Only 53% respondents having life insurance from the population & rest 47% respondents which dont have life insurance. are those

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3.Which type of Life Insurance you are having or interested in having?

INTERPRETATION 58% respondents are having insurance for the saving purpose. 42% respondents are taking insurance for investment purpose. 4% respondents having insurance for pension after retirement, they invested their money for longer time.

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4.From which of the company you having a Life Insurance?

INTERPRETATION Most of the people want to invest his money in public insurance company. Most of the people buy insurance from LIC i.e 58% and 6 % respondents are interested in Reliance Life. There are 24 private insurance companies in India.

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5.Which type of Life Insurance you are having or interested in having?

INTERPRETATION In insurance plan respondent want mostly Endowment plan. 43% respondents use Endowment plan and 23% respondent want to buy Term Plan. 23% were interested in retirement plan, 10 % were interested in investing ULIP. None of them were interested in Child plan. Endowment Plan is the plan in which consumer get both benefits (Maturity & Death). In ULIP plan, money is invested in the market and the value of fund depend on the market scenario. Retirement Plan is for getting pension after retirement. Child Plan is taken by the parents to meet their childrens future requirement. Term Plan is the plan where the insured person gets only death benefit.

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6.What is the main motive behind taking insurance?

INTERPRETATION Most of the people buy insurance policy for his old days saving because they want to save money for old age i.e. 33% and also 33% people buy insurance for risk cover for the benefit for their families.

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7.How do/will you decide about investing in life insurance?

INTERPRETATION Insurance is now basic investment for consumers. But this is tradition of India that we are not believe in unknown people So when any one buy insurance policy then his or her decision is depend on family friends etc. here if we see 60% respondents believe his /her own decision to buy insurance policy but only 33% respondents decision depend on family.

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8. If you are getting a job in Reliance life insurance sector, would you like to accept?

INTERPRETATION 60% respondents are accepting the job in insurance if they get a chance & 40% respondents are not accepting the job whether they get chance ..

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9. From where you heard about Reliance life insurance?

INTERPRETATION More than half of respondents are aware about Reliance life insurance through T.V i.e. 53%. Respondents are knew about Reliance life from other sources also like hoardings, pamphlets etc. i.e. 27%.

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10. Are u interested to join other than Reliance life insurance company ?

INTERESTED 30% NOT INTERESTED 70%

INTERPRETATION: Only 30% respondents are interested to join other insurance company & 70% respondents are interested to join Reliance life insurance after they aware about the facts n figures.

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11. Availability of present job market

Easily available 11%

Not available 9%

Moderately available 80%

INTERPRETATION Availability of job in insurance sector is moderately i.e. 80%. Respondents have to clear the IRDA exam & they have to score minimum 50% marks in that exam.

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3.1 SWOT ANALYSIS

SWOT analysis is the analysis of the internal and external factors, which have impact on the survival of any organization. Now lets make SWOT analysis for reliance Life Insurance Company Limited.

STRENGTHS:

1) Reliance Life Insurance Company Limited is the part of the Reliance Capital. 2) The brand name is enough to sell the products easily. 3) Private placement of Rs. 10,000 crs worth of securities with RBI by the government. Led to an improvement in market securities. 4) Strong liquidity from FII was the major reason for the up move. 5) Range of products 6) Reliance has a long and strong history of solvency, financial stability.

WEAKNESSES:

1)Newly established company, so people seems it risky. 2) Lack of staff. 3) Lack of advertisement, so most of the customers are not aware of the Reliance Life Insurance.

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OPPORTUNITY:

1) There is a vast untapped market in India. The life insurance penetration in India is approximately 2.5%. So it has large potential. 2) Intention of traditional products is to encourage long term, regular and disciplined savings to systematically build up a target fund. 3) The average insurance premium being collected by the company has been growing exponentially year on year.

THREATS:
1) The main threat is from the other players who have grabbed approximately 15% of the market share. 2) As the government has scrapped the rebate on the life insurance premium, the people who used to invest in life insurance for the saving purpose. 3) Sole motive of tax benefit may turn to other instruments.

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3.2 FINDINGS
55% of the respondents are having insurance plan for the saving purpose & 42% are taking life insurance for the purpose of investment. Maximum number of respondents prefers insurance plans of LIC. Only 6% of respondents prefer Reliance Life insurance Plans. Maximum respondents are having Endowment Plans. 60% of the respondents are ready to with Reliance Life Insurance sector. TV is the main source of media from where the respondents get to know about Reliance Life Insurance. Only 30% employees want to join other companies than Reliance Life Insurance. The commission paid by Reliance Life Insurance is more as compared to other companies.

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3.3 CONCLUSION
After the deep study of insurance sector of India, I can tell that this is the sector, which has most business opportunities perhaps in India. Insurance industry is one of the fastest sectors in India. Insurance sector has been growing by 32% to 34% and it is expected to increase by 50% in coming 5 years. After the opening up of the insurance sector, it has become much competitive and insurance awareness among people has increased. As far as the comparison of Reliance Life Insurance and other players is concerned, there are both positive as well as negative impacts on both the sides. For private players the negative aspect is that they have to fight with the public sector giant which is established player with a high brand value. Endowment plan is prefer by the sample size because there is no risk in this plan, and benefit is also good. Peoples mainly took insurance for their saving purpose. But the positive impact is that the life insurance awareness has increased and the business of Reliance Life Insurance has increased.

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3.4 RECOMMENDATION

Reliance Life as an insurance firm has a very strong presence in India and is rapidly expanding its operations in India. After working on this project I feel that following are some of the ways in which the company can improve the current market base and selection procedure for Agent Advisors, the key revenue generating resource for the company:

Low awareness Reliance life insurance brand in the mind of potential Agent Advisor. Reliance Life insurance compensation package is considered to be quite good as per market standard. However the 30 days full time training programme is causing apprehension in minds of potential agents. A part time training alternative can also be considered. Reliance Life can provide some database collected from other sources to the new recruits at least in the first month. The registration fee for IRDA training programme is refundable. In other companies having higher charges. It gives good commission on policy as compare to other insurance companies.

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3.5 LIMITATION OF STUDY

Due to large area we had to restrict in the particular areas of Agra. We couldnt take interview of agents & advisors of the company. Many people were not interested to fill up the questionnaire. Regarding the making of questionnaire we were bound to make that on the basis of the companys selection criteria only. So we were not able to get more information. Many people were not interested to invest their money in insurance.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Books
D.C.Srivastava & Shashank Srivastava Year-2001

Indian Insurance Industry - Transition and Prospects Kaninika Mishra Year-2010

Fundamental of LIFE INSURANCE - Theories and Applications Dr. Rakesh Agarwal (Ed.) Year-2011

Guide to Principles of Insurance (Key for Licentiate Examination) Prof. R.Haridas Life Insurance in India Year-2011

Websites
http://www.reliancecapital.co.in/about_chistory.html http://www.reliancepower.co.in/about_us/company_profile.htm http://www.rbe.co.in/about-us.html http://www.reliancehealth.co.in/rhportal/web/about_company.html http://www.reliancelife.com/rlic/AboutUs/about_reliance_life_insuran ce.aspx 15/07/12 http://www.reliancelife.com/rlic/AboutUs/acheivements.aspx

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APPENDIX

Questionnaire for Channel development in Insurance & Sales

1. Name: 2. Age: 3. Annual Income/Salary of respondents who are interested to buy insurance? a. Below 100000 [ ] b. 100000-200000 [ ] c. 200000-500000 [ ] d. Above 500000 [ ] 4. Do you have a Life Insurance? a. Yes [ ] 5. b. No [ ]

Which type of Life Insurance you are having or interested in having? a. Saving [ ] b. Investment [ ] c. Pension [ ]

6.

From which of the company you having a Life Insurance? a. LIC [ ] b. ICICI Prudential [ ] c. SBI life [ ] d. Reliance [ ] e. other [ ]

7.

Sir/Madam, Which type of Life Insurance you are having or interested in having? a. Endowment Plan [ ] b. ULIP Plan [ ] c. Retirement Plan [ ] d. Child Plan [ ] e. Term Plan [ ]

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8. What is the main motive behind taking insurance? a. Risk Cover [ ] b. Tax Benefit [ ] c. Saving [ ] d. Return Yield [ ]

9. How do/will you decide about investing in life insurance? a. On my own [ ] b. Family Decision [ ] c. Employer Decides [ ] d. As per the guidance of agent

10. If You have taken the insurance from any company other than Reliance, Then would like to switch to Reliance if given better benefits? a. Yes [ ] b. No [ ]

11. From where you heard about Reliance life insurance? a. T.V [ ] b. Internet [ ] c. Newspaper [ ] d. Public [ ]

12. Are you interested to join other than Reliance life insurance company. Yes [ ] No [ ] 13. Availability of present job market a. Moderately [ ] b. easily [ ] c. Not available [ ]

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