What Impacts The Value of Your ULIPs?

ULIPs are popular instruments because of their unique composition. They offer a dual benefit of insurance and investment in a single plan. If you want to venture into investing and yet stay as safe as possible, you can buy life insurance along with a relatively safe investment in the form of a ULIP.

What is a ULIP?

When you have a ULIP, you don’t need to buy life insurance and investment funds separately. A part of a ULIP premium goes towards a life cover, while the other is invested in funds which are chosen according to your risk appetite. Your fund can be a debt fund if you want to be rather safe, an equity fund if you are willing to take calculated risks, or even a balanced fund if you want to hit the sweet spot in the middle.

What is the fund value of a ULIP?

Fund value, often confused with the sum assured, is actually the monetary value of the units you hold. It can be calculated by multiplying the NAV (Net Asset Value) of every unit on the specific day by the total number of units held by you. The NAV keeps changing, and thus, fund value also keeps changing due to fluctuations in the market.

The NAV is basically the price per unit of your fund.
NAV = (Value of Current Assets + Market Value of Investments Held) - (Value of Current Liabilities and Provisions) /
Total no. of outstanding units on the particular date
Just like shares have a share price, mutual funds and ULIPs have an NAV.

What impacts the fund value?

All the values which go into the calculation of the NAV impact your fund value.

• The current market value of your investments
• The market value of your current assets
• The market value of your current liabilities and provisions
• Number of units existing on valuation date (the date of calculation)

How is fund value different from Sum Assured?

The sum assured for a ULIP is the same as that when you buy life insurance. It is the amount that the insurer will pay to your beneficiary in the event of your death. Depending upon the policy terms, your family could receive either the sum assured, or the fund value, or the higher of the two upon death. Upon survival, you will receive the fund value upon maturity, and not the sum assured.

What is surrender value?

Surrender value, as the term suggests, is the value that you get upon surrendering your ULIP before maturity due to a certain reason. This value depends upon a lot of factors.

What impacts the surrender value?

• The mortality charge or the cost of providing insurance which is deducted from your premiums will be deducted from the number of premiums paid for calculating the surrender value. Mortality charges are usually minimal and are paid back at the end of the policy.
• While buying a ULIP, one of the charges that you need to be clear about is the management charge. It is one of the most important deductions from your premiums. It is usually in the range of 0.5%-2% of your premium. It is basically a charge that you pay for your fund manager who ensures that your fund gets you good returns.
• The longer the duration for which you pay your premiums, the greater the increase in valuation of your policy. The base amount of your policy upon maturity is the sum of all the premiums paid, after deduction of mortality and management charges. However, there is another factor that is taken into account, which is the insurance to investment ratio.

Conclusion

A ULIP is an elaborate, detailed instrument. Make sure you know exactly what kind of returns you are in for when you buy one. For maximum choice and flexibility, choose a ULIP like Promise4Growth Plus which provides a plethora of options.

Promise4Growth Plus

All of us have dreams for ourselves and for our families. Canara HSBC Life Insurance's Promise4Growth Plus is a ULIP that supports you in planning to achieve your dreams. It is a protection and savings oriented plan that provides you maximum flexibility with 7 different funds and 4 different portfolio strategies to choose from. There is also an option of Return of Mortality Charge. Switching and redirection of funds is a breeze with this plan. Plus, you also get Loyalty Additions and Wealth Boosters, and all of this is just a few clicks away!