BENGALURU: The most keenly-awaited IPO of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has garnered considerable interest from brokerage firms, investors as well as policyholders. Investment platforms and brokerages are cashing in on this huge interest as LIC has reserved 35% of the shares for retail investors, while up to 10% of shares on offer would be reserved for policyholders.
Brokerage firm Upstox said India had a record year for IPOs last year and LIC’s debut would only add to that momentum. “This IPO is beneficial to both the Indian financial markets and the country’s economic growth,” said Puneet Maheshwari, Director, Upstox.
Also, this IPO might bring in first-time investors, which could lead to opening of more demat accounts. Upstox has created an ‘insurance holder category’ on the platform, and is also strengthening its infrastructure to keep up with increased customer demand. “We are also developing a comprehensive, all-encompassing strategy in order to make it innovative and engaging for our customers,” said Maheshwari.
With a 74.6% market share in terms of individual policies issued, LIC is the largest life insurer with 28.6 crore policyholders.
Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said, “Both brokerage firms and first-time investors are showing great excitement about this IPO. But we need to wait till the government announces the price band to assure ourselves about the margin of safety and upside potential.” Investment tech unicorn Groww is witnessing an increased query for this IPO. “..we are confident that several first-time investors will enter the market,” said Harsh Jain, COO and Co-founder, Groww.