INTRODUCTION OF INSURANCE Fundamentals of Insurance

In life every human being-you and we included is exposed to an element of risk, commonly defined as the possibility of loss. These broadly relate to two spheres-our lives and our material possessions. Further, every loss has two implications: financial and non-financial. For instance when a person dies, the family suffers a grievous emotional loss, which can perhaps never be compensated. But the family also suffers another significant loss-financial loss; particularly person who dies was an earning member or even potentially earning member. There are then concerns about the financial stability of the dependents. Similarly, when a factory is gutted in a fire, in addition to the loss of property, there are other considerations: the effort to rebuild the factory, the future of workers and the fate of suppliers and consumer attached to the business. In both instances, little can be done about non-financial losses. But financial losses can-and must-be addressed and using risk management tool and that is Insurance.

What is Insurance? "Insurance is a financial service for collecting the saving of the public
and providing them with a risk coverage." Thus in insurance, there are three elements involved

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The Risk The Insured The Insurer.

General definition: In the words of John Magee, "Insurance is a plan

by which large number of people associate and transfer to the shoulders of all risks that attach to individuals."

Fundamental definition: In the words of D.S. Hansell, "Insurance is

accumulated contributions of all parties participating in the scheme.

Contractual definition: In the words of justice Tindall, "Insurance is

a contract in which a sum of money is paid to the assured as consideration of insurer's incurring the risk of paying a large sum upon a given contingency.

Why do you need Insurance cover?

Insurance will help provide protection to investors from certain or uncertain risks. Certain risk includes events like death, retirement, pension, education, marriage, etc. Uncertain risk includes events like theft.

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A human life is also an income-generating asset. This asset also can be lost through unexpectedly early death or made non-functional through sickness and disability caused by accident. Accident may or may not happen. Death will happen, but the timing is uncertain. If it happens around the time of retirement, when it could be expected that the income will normally cease or the person could have made some other arrangement to meet the continuing needs. But if it happens much earlier when the alternative arrangements are not in place, insurance is necessary to help those dependent on income. In case of a human being, he may have made arrangements for his need after his retirement. These would have been made on the basis of some expectations like he may live for another 15 years or that his children will look after him. If any of these expectations would become inadequate and there could be difficulties. Living too long can be as much a problem as dying too young. These are risks, which need to be safeguard against thorough insurance.

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History of Insurance Sector

Almost 4,500 years ago, in the ancient land of Babylonia, traders used to bear risk of the caravan trade by giving loans that had to be later repaid with interest when the goods arrived safely. In 2100 BC, the Code of Hammurabi granted legal status to the practice. That, perhaps, was how insurance made its beginning. Life insurance had its origins in ancient Rome, where citizens formed burial clubs that would meet the funeral expenses of its members as well as help survivors by making some payments. As European civilization progressed, its social institutions & welfare practices also got more & more refined. With the discovery of new lands, sea routes & the consequent growth in trade, medieval guilds took it upon themselves to protect their member traders from loss on account of fire, shipwrecks & the like. Since most of the trade took place by sea, there was also the fear of pirates. So these guilds even offered ransom for members held captive by pirates. Burial expenses & support in times of sickness & poverty were other services offered. Essentially, all these revolved around the concept of insurance or risk coverage. That's how old these concepts are, really.

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In 1347, in Genoa, European maritime nations entered into the earliest known insurance contract & decided to accept marine insurance as a practice.

The first step... Insurance as we know it today owes its existence to 17th century England. In fact, it began taking shape in 1688 at a rather interesting place called Lloyd's Coffee House in London, where merchants, shipowners & underwriters met to discuss & transact business. By the end of the 18th century, Lloyd's had brewed enough business to become one of the first modern insurance companies.

Insurance & Myth... In 1693, astronomer Edmond Halley constructed the first mortality table to provide a link between the life insurance premium & the average life spans based on statistical laws of mortality & compound interest. In 1756, Joseph Dodson reworked the table, linking premium rate to age.

Enter Companies... The first stock companies to get into the business of insurance were chartered in England in 1720. The year 1735 saw the birth of the first

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insurance company in the American colonies in Charleston, SC. In 1759, the Presbyterian Synod of Philadelphia sponsored the first life insurance corporation in America for the benefit of ministers & their dependents.

However, it was after 1840 that life insurance really took off in a big way. The trigger reducing opposition from religious groups.

The Growing Years... The 19th century saw huge developments in the field of insurance, with newer products being devised to meet the growing needs of urbanization & industrialization. In 1835, the infamous New York fire drew people's attention to the need to provide for sudden & large losses. Two years later, Massachusetts became the first state to require companies by law to maintain such reserves. The great Chicago fire of 1871 further emphasized how fires can cause huge losses in densely populated modern cities. The practice of reinsurance, wherein the risks are spread among several companies, was devised specifically for such situations. There were more offshoots of the process of industrialization. In 1897, the British government passed the Workmen's Compensation Act, which made it mandatory for a company to insure its employees against industrial accidents. With the advent of

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the automobile, public liability insurance, this first made its appearance in the 1880s, gained importance & acceptance. In the 19th century, many societies were founded to insure the life & health of their members, while fraternal orders provided low-cost, members-only insurance. Even today, such fraternal orders continue to provide insurance coverage to members as do most labour organizations. Many employers sponsor group insurance policies for their employees, providing not just life insurance, but sickness & accident benefits & oldage pensions. Employees contribute a certain percentage of the premium for these policies.

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Life Insurance-The Time Line :

1980s-Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) continues to enjoy a

monopoly in insurance since its inception in 1955-56. In 1990, the government starts to analyze the need for opening up of the sector.
June 1991- LIC insures a record 10 million lives under individual

& group insurance during 1990-91.

June 1991-For the first time, Election commission takes an

insurance cover of Rs.47.35 lakh for four million government employees on poll duty, anticipating an outbreak of violence during elections.
January

1994-

Malhotra

Committee

submits

its

report

recommending the opening up of the insurance sector & allowing foreign participation. December 1995- Government decides to set up an interim Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA). In January 1996, N. Rangachary takes over as chairman. July 1996- IRA set up to help & regulate privatization of the insurance sector. 4 July 1998-LIC's Life Fund crosses the Rs.100000 crore landmarks. December 1999. The Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (IRDA) Act 1999 is passed. Important features include foreign capital participation, minimum capital requirement related norms for new

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insurance companies, & establishment of the IRDA. The IRDA is formally constituted in April 2000.
2nd July 2000-IRDA creates draft regulation for brokers, including

norms relating to net worth, remuneration, categories of brochures, granting of licenses to brokers, etc.
31st July 2001-The Union Cabinet allowing cooperative societies

to enter the insurance sector approves - Insurance amendment Bill 2001.

19th September2001- Private Sector insurance companies are to

come under the microscope of credit rating agencies.

11th December 2001- IRDA grants official recognition to the

Insurance Broker's Association of India.

April 2002- LIC is all set to embark on an ambitious overseas five-

year expansion plan to tap business worth $ 50 billion.

September 2002- LIC ties up with $117 billion Nationwide Inc to

act as its corporate agents in the US.4 March 2003- US- based Marsh Inc sets up shop in India after receiving a composite brokerage license from IRDA.

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 2002-2005 Over 13 Private Life Insurance came up for a tough

competition with the existing monopoly of LIC, among which ICICI Prudential stands at the 1st position acquiring major market share from LIC.
2002-2007 - Over 16 Private Life Insurance companies for tough

competition with existing monopoly of LIC, where ICICI Prudential stands 1st among the private life insurance companies acquiring a major market share. The following companies are present in the Life Insurance Industry in India. NAME OF THE PLAYERS Birla Sun Life Insurance Co. Ltd. HDFC Standard Life Insurance Co. Ltd. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance CO. Ltd. ING Vysya Life Insurance Company Pvt. Ltd Life Insurance Corporation Of India. Max New York Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Met Life India Insurance Company Pvt. Ltd. Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Limited. SBI Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Tata AIG Life Insurance Company Limited. Reliance Life Insurance Company Limited. Aviva Life Insurance Co. India Pvt. Ltd. Sahara India Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Shriram Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Ltd. Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Limited.

COMPANY PROFILE

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ICICI and Prudential came together in 1993 to form Prudential ICICI

Asset Management Company, which has today emerged as one of the leading mutual funds in India. The two companies bring together two of the strongest financial service brands in Asia, known for their professionalism, excellent quality of services and long tem commitment to customers. Riding on the success of this relationship, the two companies joined hands once more in 2000, to form ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, with a commitment to provide leading-edge life insurance solutions.

ICICI BANK
ICICI Bank (NYSE:IBN) is India's second largest bank and largest private sector bank with over 50 years presence in financial services and with assets of over Rs 3446.58 bn (USD 79 billion) as on March 31, 2007. The Bank offers a wide range of banking products and financial services to corporate and retail customers through a variety of delivery channels and through its specialized subsidiaries in the areas of investment banking, life and non-life insurance, private equity and asset management. ICICI Bank is a leading player in the retail banking market and services its large customer base through a network of over 950 branches and extension counters, 3300 ATMs, call centers and internet banking to ensure that customers have access to its services at all times.
ICICI Bank is now the parent company for the following companies:

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 ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd. ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co. Ltd. Prudential ICICI AMC ICICI web trade ICICI InfoTech ICICI Securities Ltd.

PRUDENTIAL PLC
Established in London in 1848, Prudential plc, through its businesses in the UK and Europe, the US and Asia, provides retail financial services products and services to more than 20 million customers, policyholder and unit holders and manages over 251 billion of funds worldwide (as of 31 December 2006). In Asia, Prudential is the leading European life insurance company with life operations in China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam. Prudential is the second largest retail fund manager for Asian sourced assets ex-Japan as at June 2006. Its fund management business has expanded into a total of ten markets : China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam and United Arab Emirates.

ICICI+PRUDENTIAL:

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ICICI Prudential was amongst the first private sector insurance companies to begin operations in December 2000 after receiving approval from Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA). ICICI Prudentials equity base stands at Rs. 1185 crore with ICICI Bank and Prudential plc holding 74% and 26% stake respectively. For the past five years, ICICI Prudential has retained its position as the No. 1 private Life Insurer in the country, with a wide range of flexible products that meet the needs of the Indian customer at every step in life. In the first quarter of financial year 2006-07, ICICI Prudential has crossed a new milestone of insuring the lives of more than 2.5 million policy holders. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance is the first in India to receive a National Insurer Financial Strength rating of AAA (Ind) by Fitch Ratings. ICICI Prudential Assets under Management Crosses 9300 Mark: ICICI Prudential is the No.1 among the private life insurers to achieve this milestone. ICICI Prudential has 32% market share amongst the private life insurance companies.

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
The ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited Board comprises reputed people from the finance industry both from India and abroad. : Mr. K.V. Kamath, Chairman Mr. Barry Stowe Mrs. Kalpana Morparia Mrs. Chanda Kochhar Mr. HT Phong Mr. M.P. Modi Mr. R Narayanan Mr. Keki Dadiseth Ms. Shikha Sharma, Managing Director Mr. N. S. Kannan, Executive Director Mr. Bhargav Dasgupta, Executive Director Management Team Ms. Shikha Sharma, Managing Director & CEO Mr. Puneet Nanda, Chief Investments Officer Mr. N.S.Kannan, Executive Director Mr. Bhargav Dasgupta, Executive Director Ms. Anita Pai, EVP- Customer Service& Technology Mr. Azim Mithani- Chief Actuary Mr. Binayak Dutta- Chief Sales and Distribution

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VISION

To make ICICI Prudential the dominant Life and Pensions player built on trust by world-class people and service. This we hope to achieve by

Understanding the needs of customers and offering them superior products and service Leveraging technology to service customers quickly, efficiently and conveniently Developing and implementing superior risk management and investment strategies to offer sustainable and stable returns to our policyholders Providing an enabling environment to foster growth and learning for our employees And above all, building transparency in all our dealings.

MISSION
The success of the company will be founded in its unflinching commitment to 5 core values Integrity Customer First Boundary less Ownership Passion.

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Each of the values describes what the company stands for, the qualities of our people and the way we work. Integrity Walk and Talk Live the values Stand up honestly and fearlessly for what we truly care about. Always act in a consistent and equitable manner. Dont compromise the future to pay for the present. Customer First Own the customer; deliver the promise. Listen actively, stretch continually to add value to customer and channel partners.
RICE Respect Internal Customer Expectations

Seek and empower decision making for superior service quality.

Boundary less
Never say its not my job, Go beyond the call of duty Experiment Believe anything is possible

Seek new ideas and thoughts freely across levels and functions Ownership
If it is to be, it is up to me

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 Bias for action.

Accountable for team performance.

Passion Winning Instinct Transmit Boundless energy and enthusiasm to drive results. Stand up and make a difference Demonstrate speed for competitive advantage.

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ORGANISATION CHART
NATIONAL LEVEL HIERARCHY

CEO

HEAD HIMALIAN

ZONAL MANAGER

TERRITORY MANAGER

ASSISTANT SALES MANAGERS

SALES MANAGERS

UNIT MANAGERS

AGENCY MANAGERS

SENIOR AGENCY MANAGERS

ADVISORS

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BRANCH LEVEL HEIRARCHY

TERRITORY MANAGER

SALES MANAGER

SENIOR AGENCY MANAGER

AGENCY MANAGER UNIT MANAGERS

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DISTRIBUTION Tied Agency Tied Agency is the largest distribution channel of ICICI Prudential, comprising a large advisor force that targets various customer segments. The strength of tied agency lies in an aggressive strategy of expanding and procuring quality business. With focus on sales & people development, tied agency has emerged as a robust, predictable and sustainable business model.

Bancassurance and Alliances ICICI Prudential was a pioneer in offering life insurance solutions through banks and alliances. Within a short span of two years, and with nearly a large number of partners, B & A has emerged as a vital component of the company's sales and distribution strategy, contributing to approximately one third of company's total business. The business philosophy at B&A is to leverage distribution synergies with their partners and add value to its customers as well as the partners. Flexibility, adaptation and experimenting with new ideas are the hallmarks of this channel.

Customer Service & Operations The Operations department oils the work processes between the customer and the company to ensure consistent and quality service to the customer.

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To streamline the operations, the Operations department interfaces between the clients and the agents, the branches and the underwriters, and manages work processes. The Vision at Customer Service is to deliver 'World Class Service' at every opportunity. Units such as the 9 to 9 contact centre, Outbound Call Centre, Customer Care and Query Resolution Unit are all committed to providing effective solutions to over lakhs of customers across the country. ICICI Prudential has one of the largest distribution networks amongst private life insurers in India, having commenced operations in 95 cities and towns in India. The company has seven banc assurance tieups. Further, it leverages its state-of-the-art IT infrastructure to provide superior quality of service to customers.

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CORE DEPARTMENTAL FUNCTIONS

Information Technology The Information Technology function at ICICI Prudential is committed to enable business through the use of technology. It is segmented into 4 groups to enable highest levels of delivery to the customers: Life Asia Solutions Group that provides flexibility in designing better product offerings to end-users, the Solutions Group- Web that provides real-time information to customers and is responsible for customer relationship management, IT Architecture & Corporate Solutions Group is in charge of developing and maintaining a blueprint for the IT architecture for the enterprise as a whole. This team works as an in house R&D Solution Group, exploring new technological initiatives and also caters to information needs of corporate functions in the organization. IT Infrastructure group is responsible for providing hardware, software, network services to the whole organization. This group runs the 'Digital Nervous System' of the Enterprise at the highest levels of efficiency and provide robust, scalable and highly available platform for deployment of business application. Marketing The Marketing function at ICICI Prudential covers an array of activities brand and media management, channel support, direct marketing and corporate communications. The Brand and Communications team is in charge of advertising, consumer research, media planning & buying and

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Public Relations; that helps develop and nurture ICICI Prudential's corporate identity while effectively communicating its varied product offerings to the customer. Channel marketing provides support to the sales force by streamlining the design and development of collaterals and sales tools across distribution channels. The Direct marketing team was set up to generate high quality leads for profitable business. The team achieves this through target database acquisition and communicating customized product information through e-mailers, telemarketing and innovative direct mailers.

Finance Finance function in ICICI Prudential is committed to create an infrastructure that is aligned to shareholder expectations. Finance basically comprises of four functions. . Corporate Planning and MIS provide feedback on business strategies. This includes driving the budgeting process, providing strategic inputs for decision-making and management reporting and analysis. The Accounts function includes preparation and maintenance of financial records, funds management, and expense processing and treasury operations. Compliance ensures that every action is within the regulatory framework. This includes reviewing compliance requirements and supporting the ethical framework of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance company Limited. Internal Audit includes risk management and business continuity plans for the enterprise.

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HR The people strategy of ICICI Prudential is "To build a committed team with a culture of innovation, learning and growth. The Human Resource Function at ICICI Prudential drives the people strategy of the business. With its initial focus on operational excellence to deliver benefits and services to staff members, HR is now committed to building capability through state of the art processes. A robust performance management system, compensation system and a segmented training architecture enable it to deliver value to the organization.

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SWOT ANALYSIS Strength:

ICICI Prudential is the first life insurance Company to introduce

unit linked, pension products and lifetime. So it can get pioneer advantage. Prudential is 156 years old company founded in 1848 so it has fullfledged experience in this industries. ICICI enjoys a rating with the Moody's which is higher than the sovereign rating. Large distribution channel with 113 branches and more than 2,34,000 financial advisors. ICICI Prudential has the complete and diversified portfolio of products. ICICI Prudential provides the best incentives which motivate and encourage the Advisors to work and fulfill the commitment. The only Life Insurance Company in the world to provide Insurance for disease like Diabetes. Good customer service. Company has created a brand name.

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Weakness:
Yet to build a strong distribution network in the market.
People were reluctant to join or trust a Private Life Insurance

Company.

Opportunities:
Today ICICI Prudential covers 32% market share among the

private players and 16% of total market. So yet there is a great potentiality to increase market share. Insurance plans like Pension plan, Child plan and Investment Plan of ICICI Prudential got good response from the market. So in near future company can take benefit of it. The brand name that creates ICICI Prudential and awareness level of it is comparatively quite higher than competitors. So it will be helpful in future while launching new innovative products like unit link plans..

Threats:
It is a private company so there is a doubt about solvency and

Liquidity among the general people.

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 Also, in the case of professionals such as CAs and Tax

Consultants.
They considered that the job of an agent did not match their status. Large distribution network of LIC and trust of people in LIC. There will be entry of 11 more Private Insurance Players .

IMPORTANCE OF INSURANCE ADVISOR

For insurance industry direct marketing is a main marketing tool for business. ICICI Prudential also try to make best advisor force for the business. In India there is 30,000-advisor force in company. Company always works for recruit best advisor. Advisors are the 1st link between the prospect client and the company. Advisors are the major players who generate revenue for the company. They serve as a center of influence and act as a relationship manager to the company.

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REQUIREMENTS TO BECOME ICICI PRUDENTIAL LIFE ADVISOR

Self Motivation Communicate well with others. Set goals then achieve them. Being an ICICI Prudential insurance advisor can be one of the most rewarding careers one can find. It is also hard work. But at ICICI Prudential Life, hard work pays off in the form of compensation and recognition. As an advisor one contribute in bringing in new business for the company, offer world class pre and post sales service to the clients with the support of the organization. But an advisor to the company means much more than a salesman or a saleswoman, at ICICI Prudential recognize advisors as the ambassadors of organization in the marketplace and consider the advisor force would be their biggest differentiating factor in the coming years. That is why; the company takes a lot of care in recruiting and developing advisors force, so that it can maintain standards of quality in service and salesmanship.

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ROLE OF INSURANCE ADVISOR

Identify future clients Making appointments Conduct financial review meetings with prospects/clients Close sale Get referrals Provide service to clients.

RETURNS OF AN ADVISOR
Estate Creation : In this industry, the advisors are paid commission till the maturity of the policy. Advisor is paid renewal commission every year and this commission helps the advisors to build an estate. It means a policy that is sold today will pay the advisors for more than 10 to 15 years, whatever is the term of the policy. Status : Advisors secure the life of people. They advise their clients of buying the right policy after properly evaluating their needs. So, they have a respect in peoples mind.

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Prestige : Company provides the advisors opportunities like foreign trips if they achieve the target. Moreover there are club memberships also available. Honour : ICICI Prudential life insurance gives a target to the advisors and if they reach this target, ICICI Prudential awards them a trophy, a certificate and incentives in the meeting of the company. Widen Social Circle : Life insurance is the business of contacts. As the time passes in this business more people will know and recognize the advisors. In this way the advisors can widen their social circle in a strategic manner. Mitigate Human Hardship : When advisors come into the life insurance business, they dont sell only policy to the people but they provide safety against the uncertainty of the life. They help people in planning for the unforeseen future in the present.

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Rapid Career Development: In future an advisor has chances of further development and can develop full time career in insurance sector. There is a Pinnacle Programme which a full time career as a unit manager. It is growth within the ICICI Prudential. It contains greater earning potential. In this program an advisor gets promotion and can create his own team to work and give best result. For this performance criteria are age should be between 25 to 45 years. They should work at least 1 year or 6 months in systems. And they should make 36 issuance policies within a year.This is how they can become full time consultant of insurance sector. A trip to national and international places though various club memberships. There are various clubs going on in the ICICI Prudential. They are precedents club and ICICI prudential star club and MDRT(Million Dollar Round Table) Membership. In ICICI Pru. star club there are many different clubs like Platinum star, Diamond star, Gold star, Silver star and Bronze star. To qualify in this clubs person has to earn some points and numbers of person in this clubs are limited.

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SUPPORT & FACILITES TO INSURANCE ADVISORS

Extensive Product Portfolio: Extensive product range that provides financial solution to Cover all basic needs: Pre-mature death Living too long Childrens future Wealth creations Extensive training to make One a Professional Advisor State-of-the-art training on : Selling skills

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 Product knowledge Relationship skills Training delivery through several convenient options Face to face Online Self learning Technological Support: ICICI also Provides technological support such as official Email Id to its advisors which no other insurance company provides, which could make them motivated as they would be a part of the organization.

MOTIVATING FACTORS FOR ADVISORS

Every time only money might not be the motivator to the advisor. ICICI Prudential believes that there are many other things that advisors aspire to achieve-fame and recognition and desire to take a holiday abroad. The benefits one can enjoy being associated with the company are listed below-

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MDRT (Million Dollar Round Table) : The MDRT (Million Dollar Round Table), founded in 1927, is a premier association of the worlds top sales professionals in the life insurance business with a total world wide membership of 25000. The eligibility criteria are based on commissions earned on an annual basis on the sale of policies. In India the minimum eligibility is commission earnings of Rs 4,90,000 per year. India to date has 140 agents as MDRT members and the number is said to be rising. Though over 400 agents of LIC qualify to be MDRT members, a good number are not yet members considering the high annual membership fees of $350. The fact that a number of LIC agents are part timers could also be another of the reasons. To qualify as a member of Court of the Table, one-up on the ladder, annual commission earnings have to exceed Rs 22lakh. An MDRT member other than the prestige attached to the label gets the advantage of interacting with his counterparts across the globe and share knowledge of prevailing market trends. The insurance sector has opened up and awareness about insurance is growing. The mood in the industry is upbeat and the day is not far when private insurers too will be bitten by the MDRT bug.

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ICICI Pru Star Club

Advisors will be eligible to earn business cards, letterheads, business allowance, office support etc, which will help them organize their work in a professional manner. There are three sub clubs in ICICI Pru Star Club:

ICICI Pru Platinum Club

If any advisor completes 150 policies and 850000 of premium collection, he will become a Platinum Club Member.

ICICI Pru Gold Club

If any advisors complete 120 policies and 700000 of premium collection, he will become a Gold Club Member.

ICICI Pru Silver Club

If any advisors complete 80 policies and 450000 of premium collection, he will become a Silver Club Member. The company has its incentive schemes which actually motivate the advisors to work. Also for those who have reached the targets set by the company get benefit of foreign tours and also tours arranged by the company in India. There are various contests organized by the company every month. They keep huge amount at various premium collections done by the advisor.

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Clear Career Path:

If an advisor achieves the target set by the company, for 6 months, he enters into pinnacle program where he has a chance to become a Unit Manager which is first of its kind offered by any insurance company. There are unit managers who had been advisors when they started with ICICI Prudential.

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PROCEDURE TO BE ICICI PRUDENTIAL ADVISOR

The person to be an advisor of any company according to the IRDA norms has to be more than 18 years and should be at least Higher Secondary Passed. The criterion which an advisor has to fulfill is the QSCORE which is very important for a person if he wants to be an agent of ICICI Prudential. The Q-SCORE includes the following : 1. The person should be 25 years of age. 2. The person should be a graduate. 3. The person should be married. 4. The persons household income should be above Rs. Two lakhs. 5. The person should have live in the city for more than 5 years. Out of the above mentioned 5 required criterions the person should fulfill at least 3 to be an ICICI Prudential Advisor. The company generally follows the procedure as given. Appear for an interview: The company prefers people who are above the age of 25 years and who are graduates. The company wants people who are matured and responsible. Get selected and go in for the 100-hour (Approx.18 Days) mandatory training. As far as the training is concerned there are three options:

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 Full Time (Manual Training).

Online Training Pass the IRDA licensing examination and company specific training. It is a rule to undergo IRDA (Insurance Regulatory Development Authority) training to procure a license. This holds true for every company. Apart from this the person has to undergo product specific training offered by the company that is for four days.

INSURANCE ADVISORS RECRUITMENT PROCESS

Company always looks for those people who want to work sincerely and recruit them.

Recruitment Criterias:
Person must 12th pass or 10+3 year Diploma course. This is a

minimum eligible criterion. Minimum age should be 18 years & above.

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 Then he/she should be able to attempt a 100 hour training programmed approx. 18 days, which is compulsory by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (I.R.D.A.) & Sponsored by ICICI Prudential. He/ She should be willing to work for Full / Part time as Insurance Advisor for ICICI Prudential. He/ She should have all the documents such age proof- Photocopy of School Leaving Certificate, Residence Proof- Photocopy of Telephone bill or Electricity Bill, education proof, etc. He/ She should give cash or a Demand Draft of Rs. 1000 in favour of ICICI PRUDENTIAL LIFE INSURANCE CO. LTD. Payable at Ahmedabad.
Other general requirements were that He/ She should have Good

contacts, must be Confident, Selling skills, Influencing skills, Communication /presentation skills, Reliable. He / she should be approved by the concern Unit Manager or Agency Sales Manager.

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METHODOLOGY FOR RECRUITING ADVISOR

The various processes which were undertaken for recruiting advisors are as follows.
1. Natural Market: We contacted first our natural market and

convince the people who were interested to become advisors of the company. The natural market consists of: Relatives Friends Neighbors Apart from moving in the Natural market, we also had to generate leads by cold calling. In Cold calling, we mostly concentrated on the following: Database of different companies LIC/GIC Agents Telecalling Leads.
2. References: For generating references ICICI Prudential follows a

scientific method of Power of 6 or the Power of 8. When we meet people for recruiting advisors this method of Power of 6 is used wherein we ask 6 or 8 questions like:
a) Who is your General Insurance Advisor?

b) Who is your Lawyer? c) Who is your Family Doctor? d) Who is your Chartered Accountant? e) Who is your Sons Private Tutor?
f) Who is your Sons School Principal?

- 40 Tolani Institute of Management Studies, Adipur.

3 Market Skimming: Also we had arranged various activities in order to generate leads. We had put stalls at various places. We also did road-shows and various cold calling activities at various places .The basic motto of doing this was to come in contact with people and explain the business opportunity offered by the company. People who were targeted were more than 18 years and were at least Higher Secondary Passed. This is a compulsory norm issued by IRDA. Normally the group used to consist of: Businessman Serviceman Housewives Students Chartered Accountants Tax Consultant LIC \ GIC Agents Retired (VRS) Normally the procedure is that we fix the appointments first on the telephone. Then we make a visit to the interested or he comes to the office. The details are explained to him and his queries are solved. After 2 days we give him a call and ask his interest. If he is interested then the formalities are completed.

- 41 Tolani Institute of Management Studies, Adipur.

We as management trainees had our work till the person gets over with all the formalities. Once that is done he is appointed under a Unit manager and he has to report to him. Following is the procedure which we adopted while recruiting Insurance Advisor: Identification of Prospect: Usually identifying a prospect involves identifying a set or segment of people which is best suited for doing the insurance business. This segment can depend on many things such as comfort level, past experience, locality or team requirements of Unit Manager. Many times a reference received from some one who you know, who knows someone who is interested in insurance, can be a great help. Many of the unit managers also prefer a group presentation as a tool for prospecting. First Contact with Prospect: After the Prospect is identified the first contact is made with him/her, explaining them the basic of the business opportunity that company will like to offer to them. If they are interested a suitable time and place is fixed for Unit manager to make a Business Opportunity Presentation to them.

- 42 Tolani Institute of Management Studies, Adipur.

Business Opportunity Presentation : This is a very interesting tool developed by ICICI Prudential, to explain in detail, what sort of business opportunity the company will like to offer to Advisors. It is a visual presentation which will describe the Roles, Expectations, Returns, Opportunity for the advisor. It combined with presentation made by Unit manager gives the complete picture of what Advisor can expect when he joins ICICI Prudential. Objection Handling: It is a very common practice for the prospects to take their time in deciding whether they want to join ICICI Prudential or not. This requires on the average 2 or 3 sessions in which the Unit manager clears out all the doubt the Prospects have. Documentation: Once the Prospects make the decision to join ICICI Prudential family, they have to fill out a Recruitment form which has all the details about the Advisor, his preferred area of work, his expectations and devotion towards Insurance Business. Along with this form he has to submit following documents: Age Proof Education Proof 7 photographs

- 43 Tolani Institute of Management Studies, Adipur.

 Rs 1000 cash or Demand Draft in Favor of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. ltd. IRDA Form-VA Examination Form Agency Recruitment Form

IRDA Training: Once the Advisor is registered with ICICI Prudential then ICICI sends his form to IRDA for 100 hrs (Approx. 18 days) mandatory training. He can take this training either in classroom session or online from the website.

Product Training :
Along with the IRDA training the Company provides the advisors with 3 days of Product training in which all the products, their implications and suitability to segments of society are explained in details.

IRDA Exams :
After the advisor finishes the training he has to appear for IRDA exam which tests him on the training he has received. This is objective type of test here advisor has to select the right answer from four given options. Advisor has to secure minimum 50% marks in this test to qualify for

- 44 Tolani Institute of Management Studies, Adipur.

Insurance License. ICICI Prudential helps its advisor by making sure that they are fully prepared for the test. It conducts mock-tests and revision sessions for the advisors, if need is felt.

Issue of Insurance License:

When the results of the Test are declared all the participants who Pass the test are issued a Nation-wide Insurance License which allows them to sell policies of one particular company anywhere in country. This license has to be renewed after every 3 years.

Issue of Login ID:

Once the Advisor gets the license, the company issues him/her a unique login. This gives him/her the right to login the policy at any branch of ICICI Prudential.

- 45 Tolani Institute of Management Studies, Adipur.

ANALYSIS
It was observed/ experienced by us/trainees that such High Net Worth Individuals did not respond positively. Rather people of the low income and recognition group responded very well. The reasons being need for recognition and no capital investment. They showed willingness to invest their spare time as many of them were already employed. People think twice before spending money and hence its difficult to sell intangible product like insurance policy. Good communication skill is must for selling insurance policies, because it is the toughest product to sell. Of course the strategy of ICICI Prudential was right when they instructed us to target HNIs (High Net worth Individuals) because they could have generated good business for company. But the problem in recruiting them was that they were not able to compromise with their status. Hence the people who were willing to join were mostly unemployed who had need for money and the people of low income group who had hunger for money. Among people who are working like Doctors, Charted Accountants and Advocates etc. were not ready to work as an Insurance Advisor because some of them were believing that this will not match with their status, some thought it is not worth doing , some thought that they dont have time to do this kind of training.

- 46 Tolani Institute of Management Studies, Adipur.

Some more responses we got from our target segments: 1. Did not have time for training 2. Not interested. 3. Busy with their current work. The major obstacles which are faced while convincing the people could be pointed out as follows
People dont have time to devote for the company for training.

People are interested to join as an advisor but do not have time to devote to the profession. People always try to compare LIC and the private players in general. They are not still open to the private players.
Some people consider the licensing fees of Rs. 1000 as a

constraint.
Most of the target markets like CA, Financial Advisor, Tax

consultant etc. have already acquired the agency of some other insurance company.
Chartered accountants cannot become an agent of any company

(they have to take a special permission from the Institute Of

- 47 Tolani Institute of Management Studies, Adipur.

Chartered Accountants, which they normally avoid) but one of his family members is eligible for the agency & on their behalf CA can work but none of the family members is interested to take training. A person cannot take more than one Life insurance Agency on his name. Part time training is not available.

- 48 Tolani Institute of Management Studies, Adipur.

RECOMMENDATION & SUGGESTONS Recommendations :

Target Semi- Rural market. Other Recommendations: Provide lower premium policies so that one could target middle class people and generate good cash flow for further growth. . Keep more seminars and target LIC/GIC agents, CAs, Tax consultants, financial investor etc.
Motivate the agency holders (by giving fixed salary).

Provide part time training.

Focus on any mass marketing activity for generating awareness of

company among people. Try to collect data of Life/General insurance agents across India and invite them to associate with ICICI Prudential.

- 49 Tolani Institute of Management Studies, Adipur.

Suggestions:
Based on our experience of 7 weeks with ICICI Prudential and the studies & activities carried out by us during this period we would like to divide our suggestions to company in four different segments that are as follows:
About the Image of the Company

About the Remuneration Structure.

About the Company Image :

While recruiting the Insurance Advisor (IA) we experienced/ observed that many people did not believe in the earning potential that this job (of a IA) offered. Hence, we would like to suggest, ICICI Prudential to advertise the earnings/ commissions earned by the STAR IA/Performers of this branch and the Incentives that an IA gets on bringing Premium Income, in the Local Newspapers. This will definitely attract more & more people to this profession/business as they will find it lucrative. Sales Manager should guarantee 3-5 leads which will be provided by ICICI Prudential in the 1st year only. This will not only boost confidence in new IAs but will also attract people to join ICICI Prudential rather than other insurance companies. This will have a two way benefit-recruitment of more IAs and increase in Sales.

- 50 Tolani Institute of Management Studies, Adipur.

About the Remuneration Structure:

Other Private Life insurance companies are offering fixed salary per month to advisors so they are motivated and feel secured as they would receive some fixed amount at the end of the month. Many of the people we met for advisors were reluctant to join as there is no fixed salary being paid in ICICI Prudential. So they were eager to join other private life insurance companies where they could earn fixed salary. There should be some fixed remuneration so they could join ICICI Prudential.

- 51 Tolani Institute of Management Studies, Adipur.

CONCLUSION
From our project at ICICI PRUDENTIAL LIFE INSURANCE, we have come to the conclusion on the basis of our observation that in an organization Recruitment of Insurance Advisor plays an important role as these advisors are the main source of business. ICICI PRUDENTIAL gives a lot of importance to recruitment of Insurance Advisor. Without good employees company cannot grow and for that recruitment is one important step to find the capable advisor to fulfill the requirement of the company. A lot of thought and efforts must be invested for recruitment of the insurance advisor. Sometimes unsuitable persons are persuaded to join. These people leave the training midstream. Training can bring about a change but this cannot be imposed on the person, he has to be self motivated to do so. Insurance salesmanship requires more of personality traits than theoretical knowledge of insurance. Therefore, managers should think well before recruiting advisors. Though life insurance agency is an attractive and rewarding profession still people feel that they have to keep on begging after people for policies. If proper people are not recruited that and they are compelled to join they may leave after sometime if they dont find anything worth them, this would ultimately mean more cost to the company. So managers should be very careful while recruiting agents.

- 52 Tolani Institute of Management Studies, Adipur.

BIBILIOGRAPHY

Websites Referred:
www.bimaonline.com www.economictimes.com www.iciciprulife.com www.google.com www.irda.national.com

- 53 Tolani Institute of Management Studies, Adipur.