IRDAI favours insurers selling mutual funds

India’s insurance regulator favours greater freedom for insurance companies to sell other products, including mutual funds. The financial services space is interconnected, and a one-stop solution may offer better availability of financial services and lead to greater financial inclusion, said Debasish Panda, chairman of the IRDAI.

Panda said the regulator is also working on an India-specific model of Risk Based Capital (RBC) regime for insurers to recognize asset-side risks and interactions between various risks faced by insurers.