Mumbai: Market leader in private life insurance ICICI Prudential Life Insurance today announced the launch of two new products aimed at offering greater security to investors and retirees alike. One product is a premium guarantee market-linked plan which ensures that an investor gets only the benefits of the upsides of the market, without incurring any loss if the markets go down; and the other is an immediate annuity product that offers a guaranteed income for life, for retired people above 45 years of age.

The first-of-its-kind premium guarantee product in the Indian life insurance industry, InvestShield Life - New, offers retail investors the opportunity for long-term capital appreciation through exposure to the markets, while protecting them from any capital erosion.

Announcing the ptoduct, N S Kannan, executive director, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance said, "The majority of Indian investors prefer to save through traditional instruments as they do not want to risk their hard-earned monies by investing in the stock markets. However, many of them have seen their friends and colleagues earn good returns by investing in the markets and are looking for a low-risk opportunity to do so themselves. The premium guarantee product is the ideal market entry product for such traditional investors, who do not wish to risk their capital while investing in the markets".

InvestShield Life - New is a long-term, investment-cum-insurance plan that invests in balanced funds with 40 per cent exposure to equity. This provides conservative investors a safe means to experiment with equity, and yet promises that the policyholder will not lose any of his invested money, should the markets go down.

The product is available for a minimum premium of Rs8,000 per year for a policy term ranging between 10 and 30 years. On maturity, the higher of the fund value and guarantee value is paid to the policyholder. In the event of death, the policyholder's nominees receive the sum assured plus the higher of the fund value and guarantee value (total premium paid);

The other product, Immediate Annuity, is aimed at providing retirees with a stable and secure income for life.

Commenting on the need for the product, Mr. Kannan said, "Social and demographic trends in India have changed radically over the past decade or so. With the breakdown of the joint family system, increasing inflation and longer life spans, old age income security is a challenge for millions of retirees. Our Immediate Annuity product addresses this growing need by promising a guaranteed income for life".

A person between the ages of 45 and 80 years can purchase Immediate Annuity by making a single lump sum payment and can select from among ICICI Prudential's seven annuity options, depending on the extent to which the policyholder requires coverage. The payout options are: annuity for life with and without return of purchase price, joint life (for annuitant and spouse) with and without return of purchase price and annuity for life guaranteed for 5/10/15 years.

What makes ICICI Prudential's Immediate Annuity proposition even more powerful is the added benefit of an Annuity Card, which offers the annuitant the convenience of instantly accessing the annuity incomes from over 15,000 Visa locations in 150 locations across India and cash-free transactions in over 1.5 lakh Visa member establishments.

Both the products - InvestShield Life - New and Immediate Annuity - are available for retail customers through ICICI Prudential vast distribution network across the country. Customer touch points include over 83,000 advisors, 177 branches, its 19 bank partners and 200 corporate agents.