Expense Account, Mint
Last week’s bailout of the ONGC stake sale by Life Insurance Corp. of India (LIC) has turned the spotlight on an institution that is a household name in India and now finds itself being publicly questioned over its investment decisions. Should you be worried about your money in government-owned LIC that was set up by an Act of Parliament and carries a sovereign guarantee? The guarantee gives policyholders the safety net they need in terms of a promised return of their money, but to contemplate a government payback of just over Rs 25 trillion (the sum assured on almost 300 million policies), in a situation where such a bailout is needed, would be quite a disaster. But let’s not think about that. It’s safer to stay with worrying about returns rather than the risk of a sovereign default.