Startup news and updates: daily roundup (August 21, 2022)

LIC sees 20% decline in death claims in Q1 FY23 as COVID impact ebbs

Insurance behemoth LIC witnessed a decline of nearly 20% in death claims in the first quarter of this fiscal with the COVID impact seen to be ebbing, though the amount is still higher than pre-2020 levels, officials said.

In the June quarter of the previous fiscal, settlement of death claims was to the tune of Rs 7,111 crore, which for Q1 of this year was Rs 5,743 crore, LIC Chairman M R Kumar said in a post-earnings call with analysts.

The claim rates had been very stable before the pandemic, said Dinesh Pant, Executive Director and Appointed Actuary, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC).

He added that there was a spike in claims in the last two years due to COVID.

Debt mutual funds continue to see outflow

Investors continued to withdraw from mutual funds focussed on investing in fixed-income securities for the third consecutive quarter and pulled out over Rs 70,000 crore in April-June due to high inflation and an increasing rate cycle.

"In the next (September) quarter, it is safe to assume that monetary conditions will be tighter in terms of lower amount system liquidity and higher regulatory rates, both of which should see further reduction in mutual fund debt corpuses," Sandeep Bagla, CEO Trust Mutual Fund, said.

The interest rate will be the major factor to dictate the flow in debt mutual funds in coming quarters. Once rates start stabilizing, inflows can be expected, Ankit Yadav, Wealth Manager (USA) & Director of Market Maestroo, said.

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FPIs pump in Rs 44,500Cr into Indian equities in three weeks of Aug

After turning net buyers last month, foreign investors have shown tremendous enthusiasm for Indian equities and have infused close to Rs 44,500 crore in August so far amid softening of inflation in the US and the falling dollar index.

This was way higher than a net investment of nearly Rs 5,000 crore by Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) in the entire July, data with depositories showed.

FPIs had turned net buyers for the first time in July after nine straight months of massive outflows, which started in October last year. Between October 2021 and June 2022, FPIs sold a massive Rs 2.46 lakh crore in the Indian equity markets.

In the coming months, FPI flows are to remain volatile. However, with the fading concerns of rising inflation, tightening of monetary policy, and performance of first-quarter earnings, inflows are likely to improve in emerging markets, said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities.

EPFO adds 18.36 lakh net subscribers in June

Retirement fund body Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) added 18.36 lakh new subscribers in June 2022, registering a 43% rise as compared to the year-ago period, according to official data.

The EPFO added 12.83 lakh net new subscribers in June 2021, the data showed.

The provisional payroll data of EPFO released on Saturday highlights that the organisation added 18.36 lakh net members in June 2022, a labour ministry statement said.

In June this year, the net member addition increased by 9.21% as compared to May 2022.

(With inputs from PTI. This story will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.)