Determinants of Public Disclosures and Its Impact on the Profitability of Indian Life Insurers

Abstract

The insurance regulatory and supervisory infrastructure in India is relatively well developed. The apex body, Insurance Regulatory Development Authority, (IRDA) has a clear mandate and is a leader am ong emerging markets. This is evidenced in the life insurance asset under management to GDP figu re at 16.8 percent, which places India along with a num ber o f industrial countries, although underlying drivers vary. With a growth in life prem ium since 2005, India is a clear outperform er in terms of expected life insurance penetration.