INVESTMENT PREFERENCE OF WOMEN IN LIFE INSURANCE PRODUCTS

INVESTMENT PREFERENCE OF WOMEN IN LIFE INSURANCE PRODUCTS Prof. Shilpa SampathKumar Research Scholar Mother Teresa Women s University Kodaikanal. & Assistant Professor, PG Department, Jain University - Bangalore. Dr.K.Jawahar Rani Professor Department of MBA St.Joseph s college of Engineering Jeppiar Nagar, Old Mammallapuram Road, Chennai. ABSTRACT The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. Savings is a habit specially embodied to women but they are more conservative while investing and are unwilling to take risk. The developers of the financial products should understand the gender differences in investment behavior and women should be offered financial products which are best suited for them in terms of risk and return. In India, almost 458 million people, around 92% of the working population, work in the unorganized sector. More than 90% of women workers are concentrated in unorganized sector, and lack legal protection, economic and social security. Insurance companies can address this problem of women in unorganized sector by financially educating them. The present study analyzes the dependence of investment preference in life Insurance products by women in unorganized sector on the demographic variables and inferential statistics are employed to understand their investment behavior and preference. The study reveals that a major percentage of the respondent women policy holders are only school educated with a monthly income of less than Rs.5000 and 95% of them invested in only one life insurance policy. K-S test result concludes that the women policy holders in unorganized sector prefer all types of policies but majority of them have insurance coverage of less than Rs.1,00,000 and pay an annual premium of less than Rs.2000. The reason of investment by women policy holders of unorganized sector in insurance as a risk cover stands in the first preference with a weighted score of 253 representing 42.2% of the total and a positive high degree rank correlation (0.708) was found between market share on consumed policies and consumer ratings. Chi-square test discloses that the agent s role in assisting them is significant, but negative weighted mean values indicate that their satisfaction level on the agent s role is very low. Keywords: Investment preference, Life Insurance, Women, Unorganized sector. 214

1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Insurance Sector In India, Insurance Sector has not only been playing a leading role within the financial system but also performs a significant socioeconomic function, making inroads into the interiors of the economy. Insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the insurance; an insured, or policyholder, is the person or entity buying the insurance policy. The transaction involves the insured assuming a guaranteed and known relatively small loss in the form of payment to the insurer in exchange for the insurer's promise to compensate (indemnify) the insured in the case of a financial (personal) loss. The insured receives a contract, called the insurance policy, which details the conditions and circumstances under which the insured will be financially compensated. A sound financial sector is the backbone of a healthy economy. The insurance industry as a financial service is considered as one of the important segments in an economy for its growth and development, particularly in the developing economy like India. Economic development of any country is mainly based on financial market. It transfers the resources from savers to the users. Since insurance is the part of the financial sector positive and far-reaching changes towards betterment have come into being in both life and non-life insurance markets. Perceived benefits rather than actual benefits are the backbone of marketing of goods and services and marketing of life insurance is no exception. So insurance sector found a new dimension to increase its business. In an increasingly competitive economy the need for insuring against risk is well recognized. The rising per capita income increased demand for insurance to cover risks of old age and death. Insurance sector is a major contributor to the financial savings of the household sector in the country, which are further channelized into various investment avenues. Growth in life insurance during the post liberalized period is caused because of a considerable shift in percentage of savings from financial assets (like deposit in banks, non- banking company, co-operatives, mutual funds, small savings etc..). This results in favorable growth both for LIC and the new insures. In this growing competition the investor is truly the king. Products are being designed, redesigned, and customized to suit the changing preference of investors, taking into account different factors like age, gender, family status, employment and income levels. All these efforts would give fruitful results only when there is high public awareness. 1.2 Unorganized sector According to The National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector (NCEUS) set by the Government of India in September 2004, unorganized workers consists of those working in the unorganized enterprises or households excluding regular workers with social security benefits and the workers in the formal sector without any employment of social security benefits provided by the employees. A number of Acts such as the Workmen s Compensation Act (1923), the Industrial Disputes Act (1947), the Employees State Insurance Act (1948), the Minimum Wages Act (1948), the Maternity Benefit Act (1961), the Contract Labour Act (1970), the Payment of Gratuity Act (1972), the Building and Construction Workers Act (1996) etc. are there to the organized workers to attain different kinds of social security and welfare benefits. Though it has been argued that the above Acts are directly and indirectly applicable to the workers in the unorganized sector also but it is not implemented properly in the case of unorganised workers. In India, almost 458 million people, around 92% of the working population, work in the unorganized sector. More than 90% of women workers are concentrated in unorganized sector, and lack legal protection and economic security. Insurance companies can address this problem of women in unorganized sector by financially educating them. Unorganized labour stands for scattered and fragmented workforces working individually sometimes loosely associated, in various occupations. Unorganized labour is not formally cohesive in any recognized association and union with defined ideology, goals and areas of specialization. This sector of the economy in India is the largest sector in terms of the employment of the work force. It consists of agriculture and such related activities as forestry, livestock and fishing as well as non agriculture. 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Vijay Srinivas (2000), found that lack of understanding among the public, lack of availability of new schemes, low income yielding are the main reasons for low priority for insurance in India and he suggested return linked insurance, for the more successful penetration. Dr. Rudrasaibaba (2002) has conducted an enquiry on Perception and attitude of women towards life insurance policies. The study revealed that seventy percent of respondents interviewed are satisfied with the services offered by LIC. An attempt was also made to know the reasons for dissatisfaction. The study revealed that intensive advertisement is not given by LIC about new policies with the result the respondents are not in a position to know which policy highly suits their requirement. Many of the respondents opined that agents are not concentrating on the customer s service. With the result, they are facing some inconvenience regarding the payment of premiums on due date and could not avail other benefits from LIC like policy loan, housing loan, etc. Hence, there is a need to improve customer s relations by LIC for the increased satisfaction of the consumers. 215

Mittal R.K. (2002), in his article Privatisation of life insurance sector in India -impact and perspective stated that 10 percent of agents procured ninety percent of business and remaining ninety percent of agents procured ten percent of the business. Most of the agents did this as a part time job. As a vast population remains untapped these inactive agents should be encouraged, he suggested. Parimal and Joshi (2006) in their research on Insurance sector in India: A SWOT analysis, observed that in India, out of 80 million insurable individuals, only 20 million have purchased life insurance, which implies that merely 10percent of the household families have access to Insurance. India s Insurance market offers immense growth opportunities considering rising disposable income levels of the middle class. Insurance penetration has doubled to 3.6 percent during 2003-06. According to the authors, insurance has been seen in India as a savings and tax minimization instrument rather that as a financial protection tool. The Malhotra committee suggested that structural changes as a key recommendation to initiate reforms in the insurance sector of India. Athma.P and kumar.r (2007) in the research paper titled an explorative study of life insurance purchase decision making: influence of product and non-product factors". The empirical based study conducted on 200 sample size comprising of both rural and urban market. The various product and non-product related factors have been identified and their impact on life insurance purchase decisionmaking has been analyzed. Based on the survey analysis; urban market is more influenced with product based factors like risk coverage, tax benefits, return etc. Whereas rural population is influenced with non-product related factors such as: credibility of agent, company s reputation, trust, customer services. Company goodwill and money back guarantee attracts many people for life insurance. D.Harikanth & B.Pragathi (2012) indicated that there is a significant role of income and occupation in investment avenue selection by the male and female investors. Geographical horizon of the investors, risks bearing capacity, educational level, age, gender and risk tolerance capacity etc, also impacts their selection. Puneet Bhushan & Yajulu Medury (2013) concluded that women are more conservative and takes less risk and significant gender differences occur in investment preferences for health insurance, fixed deposits and market investments among employees. Divya Joseph (2014) in her study on an analysis of investor s preference on various life insurance policies in Kottayam observed that women with earned income are treated on par with men. The study reveals that risk cover is the most important objective followed by future return and medium term policies are more preferred by policy holders. Almost all the respondents (95 per cent of investors) are suggesting for innovations and changes in future policies. This reveals that people are more interested in Life insurance investment. The author concluded that investors are of very varying needs and objects and suggested that there can be innovative policies with special features for women and for those above 45 years of age and the Companies should give more preference to such persons. Since more people prefer ordinary endowment and money back policies company may provide new attractive features to them. 3. NEED FOR THE STUDY The Indian constitution is one of the most progressive in the world and guarantees equal rights for men and women. Despite the advances, women are still given second priority almost everywhere especially in unorganized sector in terms of legal, economic and social security benefits. When compared with the developed foreign countries, the Indian life insurance industry has achieved only a little because of the lack of insurance awareness, ineffective marketing strategies, poor affordability and low investment in life insurance products by unorganized sector. The huge and ever rising population levels in our country provide an attractive opportunity but still nearly 70% Indian lives are un-insured. Investment in life insurance policies will give security, increase in return and other additional benefits. Hence the basic need of this study is to address this problem and examine the factors affecting investment preference of women employed in unorganized sector in life insurance products. 4. OBJECTIVES: To find out the most preferred policy of women policy holders in unorganized sector. To know whether the women policy holders in unorganized sector prefer to invest either in Public sector or in private sector. To study the Perception of Women Policy Holders of unorganized Category regarding the utility of Insurance. To study the perception of insured women on agents role in influencing their investment preference in Life insurance. To study the satisfaction level of insured women on agents role in assisting them in Life insurance investments. 5. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 5.1 Data sources and Data Collection This study uses the primary data collected from the women policy holders of unorganized sector. For the purpose of this research the primary data was collected through a specially designed schedule by conducting a survey. Secondary data was used only for the reference. The secondary data has been collected from various insurance journals and websites, print and e-publications of IRDA and LIC. 5.2 Scope of the study Investment in life insurance policies will give security, increase in return and other additional benefits. But a major segment which remains still untapped is the women investors, especially in the unorganized sector. Hence this study limits its scope to Women policy 216

holders who have invested in Life insurance policies of either / both Public and private sector Life insurance companies in the geographical area of the urban city, Bengaluru. 5.3 Sample Sample Size The sample size is limited to 100 respondents comprising of women policy holders of unorganized sector, who are investors in either / both public and private life insurance sector. Sampling Technique Non-probability convenience method was used. 5.4 Statistical tools used for Analysis: The present study analyzes the dependence of investment preference in life Insurance products by women in unorganized sector on the demographic variables and inferential statistics like Kolmogorov- Smirnov test is employed to understand the life insurance policies preferred by them. Percentage analysis has been done to identify their preference towards the sum insured coverage and the annual premium. Spearman s rank correlation is computed to analyse the correlation between the investment preference towards the life insurance companies and the market share of these companies. Weighted Mean is calculated to rank the preference in reasons of investing in Life Insurance. Chi-square test is applied to analyze the significance of agent s role in influencing and assisting the women policy holders of unorganized sector in their investment preference in Life Insurance. 6. DATA ANALYSIS HYPOTHSESIS Hypothesis 1: H o : Women Investors in unorganized sector prefer to invest in all types of Life Insurance policies. Hypothesis 2: H o : Women policy holders of unorganized sector perceive the agents role as insignificant. Hypothesis 3: H o : The satisfaction level of the unorganized sector women policy holders on agent s role is insignificant Table 1.1 Age Composition of the Women Policy Holders Age (Years) No.of Respondents Percentage Below 29 39 39 30-39 30 30 40-49 17 17 Above 50 14 14 The above table shows that among the women in unorganized sector, higher frequency of 39 women are belonging to the age group of below 29 years, 30 percent are in the age group of 30 to 39 years, 17 percent are in the age group of 40 to 49 years and 14 percent are in the age group of above 50 years. Table 1.2 Marital Status of the Women Policy Holders Marital Status No.of Respondents Percentage Married 86 86 Single women 14 14 The above table shows that among the women respondents, in the unorganized category, 86 per cent are married and 14 per cent are single women. Single women in this research, include women unmarried, widowed, and separated also. 217

Table 1.3 Size of the Family of the Women Policy Holders Family Size No.of Respondents Percentage 2 Members 4 4 3 Members 7 7 4 Members 43 43 5 Members 9 9 More than 5 37 37 The table shows that 43 per cent of the women policy holders in the sample selected are of the family size of 4 members and only 4 per cent selected are of the family size of 2 members and 37 percent are of the family size of more than 5 members. Table 1.4 Education of the Women Policy Holders Level of Education No.of Respondents Percentage School Education 60 60 Graduation 27 27 Post Graduation 10 10 Technical Education 3 3 The table computed from surveyed data reveals the level of education among women policy holders in unorganized category. The table shows that 60 per cent of policy holders did their school studies, 27 per cent of them completed their graduation, 10 per cent of the policy holders completed their post graduation and 3 per cent of them have undergone technical education. Table 1.5 Monthly Income of the Women Policy Holders Monthly Income (in Rs.) No.of Respondents Percentage Below 5000 75 75 5000-10000 21 21 Above 10000 4 4 The table shows that 75 per cent of the women policy holders in the sample selected are earning the monthly income of less than Rs.5000, 21 percent of them are earning in the range of 5000 to 10000 and 4 percent are in the income range of above 10,000. Table 1.6 Family Income of the Women Policy Holders Family Income (in Rs.) No.of Respondents Percentage Below.5000 3 3 5000-10000 70 70 Above 10000 27 27 The table showing the family income of the women policy holders reveals that only 3 per cent of the families of the women policy holders in the sample selected are earning a monthly income of less than Rs.5000, while, 70 per cent of the families of the women policy holders are in the monthly income slab of above Rs.5000-10000 and 27 percent of the families of the sample are earning above Rs.10,000. 218

Table 1.7 Number of Policies taken by the Women Policy Holders Number of Policies No.of Respondents Percentage Single policy 95 95 Two policies 4 4 Three policies 0 0 Four policies 1 1 More than four policies 0 0 The above table shows that 95 per cent of the women policy holders in the sample selected have taken only one life insurance policy, which is followed by 4 per cent taking two life insurance policies and 1 per cent have taken 4 life insurance policies. Table 1.8 Nature of Policies taken by the Women Policy Holders Nature of Policies No.of Respondents Whole Life Policy 11 Term Insurance 2 Money Back Policy 54 Annuity 1 Health Policy 1 Endowment 37 ULIP & Others 1 Total 107 Term assurances are the purest and cheapest form of insurance but benefits are payable only on the death of the policy holder within the term. Whole life plans are a special type of term assurance wherein the term of the policy is whole of the life. The above table shows that 11 women policy holders in the sample selected have taken whole life insurance policy and 2 of them chose term insurance cover. The endowment plan benefits are payable on death within the term or survival to maturity which ever is earlier and thus it acts as both risk cover as well as a channel of savings. Money back policies are also called anticipated endowment assurance plans. Survival benefits are spread over the term of policy and certain percentage of sum assured is paid at regular intervals. The death benefit continues like endowment plan i.e., full sum assured shall be payable on death within the term irrespective of earlier survival benefits. Among the respondents, 54 and 37 women policy holders from unorganized category have taken money-back and endowment insurance policies respectively. Health policies offering health insurance coverage and annuity policies help us to run peaceful post retirement life with stable incomes and Unit Linked Insurance Policies (ULIPs) help us to enjoy the fruits of bullish trend in capital markets. But all these three policies failed to attract women policy holders in unorganized sector as only one policy is taken in each of these three policies. Hypothesis 1: H o : Women Investors in unorganized sector prefer to invest in all types of Life Insurance policies. Test of Significance: The data in table 1.8 reveals that the women policy holders in unorganized sector prefer money back policies to other form of policies. To verify this inference Kolmogorov- Smirnov test (K-S test) was employed. The difference between the observed relative frequency and the expected relative frequency (K-S test result) for the preference of unorganized sector women policy holders regarding money back policy is 0.214 which is more than the other form of policies. As the value is less than the table value 0.486 for ν = 7, at 5 per cent level of significance, null hypothesis is accepted that the women policy holders in unorganized sector prefer all types of policies, which reveals the absence of financial planning. 219

Table 1.9 Sum Assured of the Women Policy Holders Sum Assured (in Rs.) No.of Respondents Percentage Below 1,00,000 81 81 1,00,001 2,00,000 15 15 2,00,001 3,00,000 4 4 The table showing the sum assured of the women policy holders reveals that 81 per cent of the women policy holders from unorganized category are insured for less than Rs.1,00,000, 15 percent of the women policy holders are insured for above Rs.1,00,001 to 2,00,000 and 4 percent of the sample are insured for above 2,00,001 to 3,00,000 and none of the women policy holders from unorganized sector have insured above Rs.3,00,001. Table 1.10 Annual Premium Amount paid by the Women policy holders Annual Premium (in Rs.) No.of Respondents Percentage Below 2000 66 66 2001 4,000 21 21 4,001 6,000 12 12 Above 6,000 01 01 The table shows the annual premium amount paid by the women in unorganized category. Most of the women policy holders, 66 percent, pay below Rs.2000 as their annual premium amount followed by 21 percent who pay an annual premium in a range of above Rs.2001 to Rs.4000. The annual premium amount of the range above Rs.4001 to Rs.6000 was paid by 12 percent of women policyholders and only one respondent paid the premium of above Rs.6000. Table 1.11 Preference of Respondents & Rating of Life Insurance Companies in Bengaluru COMPANY S NAME NO.OF RESPONDENTS SHARE (%) RANKING L.I.C.I 60 60 1 Reliance Life Insurance 2 2 6 ICICI Prudential 15 15 2 SBI Life 1 1 7 Birla Sunlife 7 7 3 HDFC Standard Life 3 3 5 ING Vysya 2 2 6 MAX Newyork Life 1 1 7 Kotak Life Insurance 4 4 4 Baja Allianze 2 2 6 Tata AIG 2 2 6 Aviva Life 1 1 7 Metlife 0 0 8 Bharti Axa Life 0 0 8 220

The above table presents that the well-established LICI is dominating with 60% respondent s preference, ICICI Prudential with 15%, Birla Sun Life with 7 % of policy holders. And out of the 100 respondents, only 1% of respondents with Max New York Life, SBI Life and Aviva Life while there are some insurance companies MetLife and Bharti Axa which has still to do lot to attract clients. Hence LICI has maximum policy holders and ranked 1st among other insurance companies, ICICI Prudential, and Birla Sun life hold the 2nd and 3rd ranks respectively. Figure 1: Respondents Preference of Life Insurance Companies in Bengaluru 60 SHARE (%) 50 40 30 20 10 0 SHARE (%) Table 1.12: Rank Correlation Analysis Company s Name X Y D i = X-Y 2 D i L.I.C.I 1 1.00 0 0 Reliance Life Insurance 6 7.5-1.5 2.25 ICICI Prudential 2 2.0 0 0 SBI Life 7 11.0-4 16 Birla Sunlife 3 3.0 0 0 HDFC Standard Life 5 5.0 0 0 ING Vysya 6 7.5-1.5 2.25 MAX Newyork Life 7 11.0-4 16 Kotak Life Insurance 4 4.0 0 0 Baja Allianze 6 7.5-1.5 2.25 Tata AIG 6 7.5-1.5 2.25 Aviva Life 7 11.0-4 16 Metlife 8 13.5-5.5 30.25 Bharti Axa Life 8 13.5-5.5 30.25 Total 117.5 Source: Based on Primary Data Note: X: the ranks based on the market share on consumed policies (Secondary Variable); Y: the ranks based on consumer ratings. (Primary variable) Rank correlation has been calculated between the ranks of primary and secondary data by considering the variables of consumed policies and consumer preferences. Rank Correlation: R = 1-6 [ 2 ΣDi + 1/12 (m 3 1 m 1 ) +1/12 (m 3 2 m 2 ) + 1/12(m 3 3 - m 3 ) + 1/12(m 3 4 - m 4) + 1/12(m 3 5 - m 5) + 1/12 (m 3 6 m 6 )] / n3 n Where: m 1 = 4, m 2 = 3, m 3 = 2, m 4 = 4, m 5 = 3, m 6 = 2, n = 14 221

R= 1-6 [117.5 + 5 + 2 + 0.5 + 5 +2 +0.5] / 2730 R = 1 795 / 2730 R = 1 0.291 R = 0.708 There is a high degree correlation between market share on consumed policies and consumer ratings. Table 1.13 Perception of Women Policy Holders of Unorganized Category Regarding the Utility of Insurance RANK Risk cover Tax saver Savings instrument Source: Primary Data 1 61 17 22 2 31 16 53 3 8 67 25 100 Weighted total 253 150 197 Percentage 42.2 25 32.8 Preference I III II The above table shows the ranking of perception of unorganized women policy holders regarding the usefulness of insurance. While ranking insurance as a risk cover, 61 out of 100 respondents prefer to assign the first rank and 31 respondents place it in second rank and 8 respondents place the risk cover feature in third rank. While ranking the usefulness of insurance as a tax saver, 17 women policyholder prefer to give the first rank to this utility, 16 insured women place second rank and a high 67 respondents assign third rank to this utility. While ranking the usefulness of insurance as a savings instrument, 22 women policy holders from organized sector place first rank to this utility, 53 respondents place second rank and 25 others prefer to give third rank. To conclude, women policy holders from unorganized sector purchase insurance for risk coverage as a prime motive and tax saving element as the last one. The weighted scores of perception also reveal that the usefulness of insurance as a risk cover stands in the first preference with a weighted score of 253 representing 42.2 per cent of the total. Insurance as a savings instrument stands as the second preference with a weighted score of 197, expressed in percentage as 32.8. Insurance as a tax saver is the third preference with a weighted score of 150, constituting 25 per cent of the total score. Hypothesis 2: H o : Women policy holders of unorganized sector perceive the agents role as insignificant. Table 1.14 Summary of Perception of Women Policy Holders of Unorganized Category on Agent s Role. Role NI-2 LI-1 I-0 MI-1 EI-2 χ 2 WM Assisting in policy selection 6 18 28 34 14 24.8 32.0 Prompt Document delivery 18 13 12 45 12 40.3 20.0 Ensuring payment of premium 11 13 19 46 11 44.4 33.0 Rendering services while policy is in force 1 14 21 49 15 63.2 63.0 Regular meeting with customers 11 25 52 7 5 76.2-30.0 Assistance to avail policy loans 14 12 49 13 12 52.7-3.0 Grievance Representation 1 2 62 19 16 123.3 47.0 Information about new products 11 31 28 16 14 15.9-9.0 Timely claim of settlement 2 1 16 14 66 142.1 142.0 Source: Primary Data NI -Not Important, LI - Less Important, I- Important, MI - More Important, EI - Extremely Important, WM weighted mean Table value of chi-square for ν = 4, χ 2 0.05 is 9.49. The calculated χ 2 values are more than the table value. Hence we reject null hypothesis, that the perception of unorganized category women policy holders on agent s role is insignificant. However, the weighted mean values of role in frequency of meeting the customers, role in assisting to avail policy loans and role in informing new products 222

and its benefits are negative. These attributes are having less significance in comparison with other attributes. The role in ensuring timely claim of settlement is more significant when compared to all other roles. Hypothesis 3: H o : The satisfaction level of the unorganized sector women policy holders on agent s role is insignificant Table 1.16 Summary of Satisfaction Level of Women Policy Holders in Unorganized Category on Agent s Role Role NS -2 LS -1 S-0 SS-1 HS-2 χ 2 WM Assisting in policy selection 19 9 47 24 1 61.4-21.0 Prompt Document delivery 3 13 43 31 10 54.4 32.0 Ensuring payment of premium 12 16 50 14 8 58.0-10.0 Rendering services while policy is in force 9 35 35 15 6 39.6-26.0 Regular meeting with customers 25 19 32 18 6 18.5-39.0 Assistance to avail policy loans 8 16 33 19 24 17.3 35.0 Grievance Representation 8 22 30 37 3 41.3 5.0 Information about new products 6 18 58 12 6 95.2-6.0 Timely claim of settlement 4 22 59 8 7 104.7-8.0 Source: Primary Data NS -Not Satisfied, LS - Less Satisfied, S- Satisfied, SS Satisfied to Some extent, HS Highly Satisfied, WM Weighted mean Table value of chi-square for ν =4, χ 2 0.05 is 9.49. The calculated χ 2 values are more than the table value. Hence we reject the null hypothesis that the satisfaction level of the unorganized sector women policy holders on agent s role is insignificant. However, except the role in assisting while delivering the policy documents, role in getting policy linked loans and the role in redressal of grievances, all the other factors are having negative weighted mean values. It implies that the unorganized sector women policy holder s satisfaction level on the agent s role is very low. 7. FINDINGS 39% of the women respondents are belonging to the age group of below 29 years, 86% of the sample respondents are married and a majority of the respondents, 60% are only school educated with 75% of the sample having a monthly income of less than Rs.5000. 95% of the women policy holders in the sample selected have taken only one life insurance policy and only 1% had taken 4 life insurance policies. Among the respondents, 54% and 37% of women policy holders from unorganized category have taken money-back and endowment insurance policies respectively. But health policies, annuity policies and ULIPS, failed to attract them as only one policy is taken in each of these three policies. Kolmogorov- Smirnov test at 5 per cent level of significance concludes that the women policy holders in unorganized sector prefer all types of policies, which reveals absence of financial planning. 81% of the women policy holders from unorganized category are insured for less than Rs.1,00,000 and 66%, pay below Rs.2000 as their annual premium amount. One of the reasons for this observation may be the lower amount of earning among women in unorganized category. LICI is dominating with 60% respondent s investment preference. It has maximum policy holders and ranked 1st among other insurance companies, ICICI Prudential, and Birla Sun life hold the 2nd and 3rd ranks respectively. There is a positive high degree rank correlation (0.708) between market share on consumed policies and consumer ratings. The weighted scores of perception reveal that the usefulness of insurance as a risk cover stands in the first preference with a weighted score of 253 representing 42.2% of the total. Insurance as a savings instrument stands as the second preference with a weighted score of 197, expressed in percentage as 32.8%. Insurance as a tax saver is the third preference with a weighted score of 150, constituting 25% of the total score, which reveals that women policy holders from unorganized sector purchase insurance for risk coverage as a prime motive and tax saving element as the last one. Chi-square test proves that the perception of unorganized category women policy holders on agent s role is significant. However, the weighted mean values of role in frequency of meeting the customers, role in assisting to avail policy loans and role in informing new products and its benefits are negative. The role in ensuring timely claim settlement is more significant when compared to all other roles. 223

Chi-square test indicates that the satisfaction level of the unorganized sector women policy holders on agent s role is significant. However, except the role in assisting while delivering the policy documents, role in getting policy linked loans and the role in redressal of grievances, all other factors are having negative weighted mean values. It implies that the unorganized sector women policy holder s satisfaction level upon the agent s role is very low. 8. SUGGESTIONS If the women policy holders in unorganized category are made aware of the benefits of the policies introduced, then, they may invest in more than one policy, resulting in an increase in the insurance density and penetration. Women investors should be made financial literates which aids their financial planning so that they can make a proper selection of the policies to invest. The insurance officials should take effective steps to popularize women policies among women, so that special needs of women could be addressed in a better way. Though the women policy holders want their money back during their life time itself provided there is no risk, the majority of them still expect a portion of sum assured to be paid on their death also. To meet their needs, policies with a combination of money back and whole life with extended non premium paying term policies may be introduced in the market. Nearly one-third of women policy holders surveyed are not satisfied with the agent s role in rendering services while policy is in force. Yet, they feel that the agent is sole representative to represent their grievances to the insurer. Not only to insure the premium payments and to render services but also to widen the scope of up-selling, the agents are expected to be in touch with the policy holders. As the agents are getting the renewal commission only for continued service, it is suggested that insurance companies ensure that the agents are doing the due follow- ups. The agents must be properly instructed about the importance of after sales service convening periodical motivational meetings by insurance companies. The present style, font size and language used in the policy document make even the well educated find difficult to understand. Plain, simple and easily understandable language is to be used in all the communications, including the insurance policy document. It is preferable if the same is in regional language. New players may tend to favour the creamy layer of urban population. But, a large portion of the insurable women population belongs to unorganized sector. Considering the size of the potential market and the difficulties faced by the existing policy holders, LIC should initiate women policies with lower premiums considering the higher longevity in to account and reduce the restrictions and medical examinations. Today Self help groups, (SHG) play an important role in economic empowerment of women. Group insurance schemes, through LIC, may be made mandatory to all the members of SHGs by the Government of India. Apart from securing the lives of women, this may pave the way for realizing the importance of insurance and for easy penetration of individual policies among them. 9. CONCLUSION: Women investors of unorganized sector need an environment of trust to be able to invest their money in a financial product, especially life insurance, which provides a social security net. Life insurance products are complex and not easy to understand. A customer relies greatly on the advice of the service provider and any breach in that bond of trust has serious consequences for the business as a whole. New products and new technology will play a crucial role in reducing the cost and, therefore, make it cost effective to serve the large population in particular the female segment of unorganized sector in India. In the present study, it is found that nearly three-fourth of the existing women policy holders of unorganized sector are of the view that they may take another policy in future if their economic conditions improve and their existing expectations are satisfied. So to tap the women insurance market adequately, the insurance companies have to rise to the expectations of the insured. 10. REFERENCES Dr. Vandana Dave, 2012, women workers in unorganized sector women s link, vol. 18, no. 3, july-september. 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Employees, Asian Journal of Research in Business Economics and Management, 3 (12), 147-157. Shekhar Sawant and Filipe Rodrigues Melo. 2008. The ICFAI University Journal of Risk and Insurance, October 2008, p.11. Kathuria,L.M. & Singhania.K. (2012). Investment Decision Making: A Gender-Based Study of Private Sector Bank Employees. The IUP Journal of Behavioral Finance, 9(1), 45-56. http://fedina.org/777/2011/10/unorganised-sector-in-india1.doc http://www.questia.com/library/journal/1g1-235631658/unorganized-workers-welfare-imperatives-initiatives 225