Bandhan Life Insurance expects ULIPs to continue to account for 30% of APE

Satishwar B., MD and CEO, Bandhan Life Insurance | Photo credit: DEBASISH BHADURI

The private sector insurer on Tuesday announced a new Unit Linked Insurance Plan (ULIP) along with the launch of a new Mid Cap fund.

“In APE terms, ULIPs are roughly close to 30 per cent, Par (participating insurance policy) another 30-35 per cent, and non-Par, which includes protection, is another third of the total product mix,” says Satishwar B, MD & CEO, Bandhan Life Insurance.

In terms of the number of insurance policies, almost 50 percent of the insurer’s policies are pure protection plans.

“Pure protection plans have an average ticket size of almost ₹10,000-12,000, while the average ticket size of a savings product is ₹40,000-50,000. So, in terms of the number of policies, almost 50 percent is still pure protection. But from the APE perspective, pure protection will come down to almost 5-10 percent, and that should be true for most insurance companies,” says Satishwar. said.

Bandhan Life Insurance wants to keep the contribution of ULIPs to the total APE at around one-third in the future as well. “That is the way we would like to keep it. But it will depend on how market moves happen because what we have seen is that when the stock market goes up, normally the share of ULIPs starts to go up, and when it goes down, the traditional share (plans) starts to go up,” said Maneesh Mishra, Chief Product and Marketing Officer.

The life insurer said its new ULIP product – iInvest Ultima – is designed to help customers grow their wealth while protecting their loved ones. In addition to the launch of the new fund, iInvest Ultima gives clients access to Bandhan Life’s other top-performing 5- and 4-star funds that have outperformed industry benchmarks.

The insurance company’s first midcap fund opens at ₹10 NAV and is available till February 18. Female customers get an exclusive premium allocation of 0.5 percent for the first five policy years from day 1, giving them a higher investment benefit without any additional premium.

“Mid-cap actually reflects India’s growth story very well. We are growing and emerging leaders will come in, and mid-cap as a category is specifically trying to get us there. So insurance allows customers to participate in India’s growth story by having structured mechanisms and combining protection with purpose-driven investing,” Satishwar added.

Published on February 10, 2026