LIC won’t hike investment in stocks in 2016-17

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) will invest around the same amount in equities as it did last year, and increase its investments in debt instruments.

LIC, which invested around Rs.60,000 crore in equities last year (among the highest in the past decade), typically increases its equity investments every year. Its decision to not do so comes at a time when foreign investors are increasing their investments in Indian stocks.

The investment approach of LIC, which controls total assets worth about Rs.21 trillion and manages insurance contracts for at least 250 million people through around 300 million life policies, is a reflection of how it sees the markets.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have invested $4.55 billion on a net basis in Indian stocks since April this year. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) have sold equities worth Rs.9,821.93 crore since April. Last year during the same period, FPIs made a net investment of $997.65 million (Rs.6,694.2 crore) in equities, while DIIs, too, were net buyers to the tune of Rs.37,287.97 crore.