Universal Sompo General Insurance Co. Ltd. (USGICL) has signed an agreement with Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) to distribute its products across selected branches. USGICL was formed as a joint venture with Indian Overseas Bank, Allahabad Bank, Karnataka Bank, Dabur Investments and Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. O.N. Singh, executive chairman, USGICL said, “Though it took us a long time to commence our operations due to various reasons, we are confident of achieving our target. We have put everything in place and are geared up to take off in a big way.”
Health Saver is a new product launched by ICICI Prudential Life Insurance on this Monday. With the launch of this product now the consumers can afford their current healthcare expenses & can invest for their future health care needs. This product also gives tax benefits under section 80D on the entire premium paid.
The solvency margins for unit-linked insurance plans have been eased by IRDA and it is being seen as a move that will help the life insurance industry to save several hundred crores in capital requirement. Solvency margin is the excess of assets over liabilities that an insurer maintains as a prudential measure in the interest of policyholders. 
The largest public sector bank of the country, State Bank of India is planning to inject more funds in its insurance arm, SBI Life. The public sector lender had earlier decided to raise funds through an initial public offering (IPO) but postponed the offer due to financial market turmoil, following the global slowdown. Some impending regulatory changes in the country also helped to delay the IPO. Meanwhile, the Central Government has already presented Insurance Bill in the Parliament to pave a way for increasing the FDI limit in insurance sector from 26 per cent to 49 per cent. 
The union government moved a step closer to start long-pending reforms in the insurance sector by introducing the Insurance Reforms Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, amid stiff opposition from the opposition parties, especially the Left. The bill is aimed at increasing the foreign direct investment (FDI) in the insurance sector from the existing 26 per cent to 49 per cent. The amendment in the insurance bill would also allow four state-owned general insurance companies to raise funds from the capital market. 
The Life Insurance Corporation of India announces its plans to invest in equities and corporate bonds in the next four months. The corporation would invest Rs 11,000 crore in stocks and Rs 20,000 crore in non-convertible debentures. Rs 15,000 crore investment is also proposed in debt offerings by country's largest investment institution. 
