PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES

 Projective Techniques are based on the theory that the description of vague objects requires interpretation and this interpretation can only be based on the individual’s own background, attitudes, and values. The more vague or ambiguous the object to be described the more one must reveal of oneself in order to complete the description.

Projective techniques involve presentation of ambiguous stimuli to the respondents for interpretation. In doing so the respondents reveal their inner characters. The stimuli may be a picture a photograph etc. The basic assumption of projective techniques is that a person projects his own thoughts, ideas and attributes when he perceives and responds to ambiguous or unstructured stimulus materials. 

The following general categories of projective techniques are described: association, completion, construction and expression.

1. Association Techniques

Association techniques require the subject to respond to the presentation of a stimulus with the first things that come to mind.

a. Word association: An individual is given a clue or hint and asked to respond to the first thing that comes to mind. The association can take the shape of a picture or a word. There can be many interpretations of the same thing. A list of words are given and you don’t know in which word they are most interested. The interviewer records the responses which reveal the inner feeling of the respondents. The frequency with which any word is given a response and the amount of time that elapses before the response is given are important for the researcher.

For eg: Out of 50 respondents 20 people associate the word “Fair” with “Complexion”.

This is one of the oldest and simplest projection techniques.

Respondents are presented with a number of different words, one at a time. After each word, they are asked to give the first word that comes to mind. The assumption here is that through free words, the respondents will indicate their inner feelings about the subject.

Responses are timed so that those responses that respondents “reason out” are identified and taken into account in the analysis. The time limit is usually 5 seconds.

The usual way of constructing such a test is to choose many stimulating and “neutral” words. The words are read out to the respondent one at a time, and the interviewer essentially records the “first word” association by the respondent.

Respondents should not be asked to write their responses because then the interviewer will not know if the responses were spontaneous or whether the respondent took time to think out the responses.

An example of such a test is: who would eat a lot of oatmeal? The first response is “athletes”. This means that the respondent feels that the product is more suited for sportspersons. More words on the same topic will reveal more about the respondent’s attitude about the product.

While analyzing the results of word-association tests, responses are arranged along such lines as “favorable - unfavorable” and “pleasant – unpleasant”.

 

b. Successive word association: In successive word association, the respondent is asked to give a series of words or thoughts that occur after hearing a given word. The respondent is generally read a number of relatively neutral terms to establish the technique. Then the words of interest to the researcher are presented, each separated by several neutral terms. The order of presentation of the key words is randomized to prevent any position or order bias from affecting the results. The most common approach to analyzing the resulting data is to analyze the frequency with a particular word or category or word is given in response to the word of interest to the researcher. Word association techniques are used in testing potential brand names and occasionally for measuring attitudes about particular products, product attributes, brands, packages or advertisements.

 

2. Completion Techniques

In this the respondents are asked to complete an incomplete sentence or story. The completion will reflect their attitude and state of mind. Two types of completion are of interest to marketing researchers- sentence completion and story completion.

a. Sentence completion, as the name implies, involves requiring the respondent to complete a sentence. In most sentence completion tests the respondents are asked to complete the sentence with a phrase. Generally they are told to use the first thought that comes to their mind or “anything that makes sense”. Because the individual is not required directly to associate himself or herself with the answer conscious or subconscious defences are more likely to be relaxed and allow a more revealing answer.

The respondent is given a number of incomplete sentences and asked to complete them.

The rule here too, is that respondent must fill in the first thought that comes to mind.

Responses are timed.

Here the interviewer gets more information than the word association technique.

However, it is difficult to disguise the motive of the study from the respondent, who is usually able to diagnose the investigator’s purpose of study.

For example, “a man who reads Sportstar is ------------------------------------------.”

The sentences can be worded in either first or third person. No evidence suggests that one of these approaches could be better than the other.

b. Story completion is an expanded version of sentence completion. As the name suggests part of a story is told and the respondent is asked to complete it.

Respondents are given a half-completed story. This is enough to draw their attention to a particular issue, but the ending is left vague, so that responses can be varied.

This technique is very versatile and has numerous applications to marketing problems.

The findings about products/ services give companies inputs to determine advertising and promotional themes and product characteristics.

 

3. Construction Techniques

This technique requires the respondent to produce or construct something generally a story, dialogue, or description.

They are similar to completion techniques except that less initial structure is provided. This is more or less like completion test. They can give you a picture and you are asked to write a story about it. The initial structure is limited and not detailed like the completion test. For eg: 2 cartoons are given and a dialogue is to written. 

a. Picture response, another useful construction technique, involves using pictures to elicit stories. These pictures are usually relatively vague, so that the respondent must use his or her imagination to describe what is occurring. These are similar to story completion method, except that here pictures are used as the stimuli. The two main methods used here are

i. Thematic Apperception Tests (TAT)

ii. Cartoon method

i. A thematic apperception test (TAT), sometimes called the picture interpretation technique, presents subjects with an ambiguous picture(s) and asks the subject to tell what is happening in the picture(s) now and what might happen next. Hence, themes (thematic) are elicited on the basis of the perceptual interpretive (apperception) use of the pictures. The researcher then analyzes the contents of the stories that the subjects relate. A TAT represents a projective research technique. Frequently, the TAT consists of a series of pictures with some continuity so that stories may be constructed in a variety of settings.

Each subject in the pictures is a medium through which the respondent projects his feelings, ideas, emotions and attitudes. The respondent attributes these feelings to the characters because he sees in the picture something related to himself. Responses differ widely and analysis depends upon the ambiguity of the picture, the extent to which the respondent is able to guess the conclusions and the vagueness of the support questions asked by the interviewer.

 

ii. Cartoon Tests: They are a version or modification of the TAT, but they are simpler to administer and analyze. Cartoon Characters are shown in a specific situation pertinent to a problem. One or more “balloons” indicating the conversation of the characters is left open. The respondent has to then fill these balloons and then this is analyzed. Instead of having the bubble show replies or comments, it can be drawn to indicate the unspoken thoughts of one or more of the characters. This device allows the respondent to avoid any restraints that might be felt against having even a cartoon character speak as opposed to think certain thoughts.

  

b. Fantasy scenario requires the respondent to make up a fantasy about the product or brand.

 

c. Personification asks the respondent to create a personally for the products or brands. With the pictures and words technique, the subjects are given a number of words and pictures and are asked to choose those they associate with a brand or product and to explain their choice.

This allows the researcher to discover the more emotional responses to brands and imagery.

The product or brand becomes a person (or vice versa)

Helps bring brands to life

Feeling, thought, character etc. (like brand values)

Or respondents can project themselves into the roles of user and non-users

Making up eulogies or obituaries can help

 

4. Expressive Techniques

In this the people are asked to express the feeling or attitude of other people.

a. Role-playing is the only expressive technique utilized to any extent by marketing researchers. In role playing the consumer is asked to assume the role or behavior of an object or another person, such as a sales representative for a particular department store. The role-playing customer can then be asked to try to sell a given product to a number of different “consumers” who raise varying objections. The means by which the role player attempts to overcome these objections can reveal a great deal about his or her attitudes. Another version of the technique involves studying the role-player’s attitudes on what type of people “should” shop at the store in question.

 

b. Third-person technique:

The respondent is presented with a verbal or visual situation and the respondent is asked to relate the beliefs and attitudes of a third person rather than directly expressing personal beliefs and attitudes. This third person may be a friend, neighbor, colleague, or a “typical” person

 

Advantages of Projective Techniques

1. They may elicit responses that subjects would be unwilling or unable to give if they knew the purpose of the study.

2. Helpful when the issues to be addressed are personal, sensitive, or subject to strong social norms.

3. Helpful when underlying motivations, beliefs, and attitudes are operating at a subconscious level.

Disadvantages of Projective Techniques

1. Suffer from many of the disadvantages of unstructured direct techniques, but to a greater extent.

2. Require highly trained interviewers.

3. Skilled interpreters are also required to analyze the responses.

4. There is a serious risk of interpretation bias.

5. They tend to be expensive.

6. May require respondents to engage in unusual behavior.

 

Guidelines for Using Projective Techniques

1. Projective techniques should be used because the required information cannot be accurately obtained by direct methods.

2. Projective techniques should be used for exploratory research to gain initial insights and understanding.

3. Given their complexity, projective techniques should not be used naively.

NEW PRODUCT RESEARCH

New Product Development (NPD) is the term used to describe the process of bringing a new product or service to the market. 

The new product development process has the potential to be haphazard because of the inherent uncertainty in the process, as well as the myriad methods available for product development. Setting up an organizing framework to identify the stages in the process, and the methods applicable to each stage, should help in bringing order to the process. 

The focus here is on methods that use quantitative data collected mainly through the web thus bringing more validity and flexibility to the process along with speed to market.

We envision the new product development process as an iterative multistage process. This is a straightforward way of looking at the process that starts with idea generation, moves to development of individual features and then to full product development and finally into product testing. Of course, this is one example of how the process can be viewed and not a rigid framework. There has to be considerable fluidity in the system to accommodate feedback, skipping of stages, use of new methods and perhaps the introduction of new stages.

 

Idea Generation

Many methods are available for the idea generation stage such as brainstorming and focus groups. The basic approach is to harness creativity in some form for the development of new ideas. While there is much to recommend for the more qualitative approaches, one of the drawbacks is the lack of quantitative validity to the ideas at this stage. That is, the ideas have not been shown to have popularity in the constituency that matters – the customers. We have found that the Smart Incentives approach can provide both creativity and validation in the same step. Respondents to a survey compete with each other to produce ideas thus introducing creativity into the process. The generated ideas are then evaluated by a peer group to provide the required market validation. This approach can be useful for generating ideas on both whole products and individual features.

Ideas for new products can be obtained from customers (employing user innovation) the company's R & D departmet, competitors, foucs groups, employees, sales people, trade shows or through a policy of open innovation.

Formal idea generating techniques incolude attribute listing, brainstorming, problem analysis, etc.

 

Idea Screening

Here we eliminate unsound cocepts prior to devoting resources to thme. 

The screeners must ask atleast three questions:

- Will the customer in teh target market benefit from the product

- Is it technically feasible to manufacture the product?

- Will the product be profitable when manufactured and delivered to the cusotemr at the target price?

Feature Development

Feature development is the process of identifying features that would be of interest to customers. Traditional methods such as Importance Scales can be used, but may not provide sufficient discrimination between features. Pairwise comparisons of features are a straightforward method for identifying feature importance. The task is simple, but can be tedious if a large list of features needs to be culled. More recently developed methods such as Max-Diff scaling can provide a better alternative. Max-Diff is similar to pairwise comparison, except that more than two features are evaluated at a time (3-5) and the most and least preferred alternative is chosen from each set. Some advanced statistical analysis on the back end provides a score for each feature that is generally more discriminatory than a regular importance scale.

Another alternative is the Kano method where the positive and negative aspect of each feature is rated in order to distinguish the "must have" features from the "nice to have" features.

The final method in this stage (that straddles this and the next stage) is the Selfexplicated Method (SEM). Respondents rate the desirability of each level of each attribute as well as the importance of each attribute. Combining these two pieces of information gives attractiveness scores (similar to conjoint utilities) for each attribute level. Although all attributes and levels are rated by respondents (as in conjoint analysis), since they are presented individually, this method may be more appropriately seen as useful for feature development.

 

Product Development

In this stage, combinations of features are used to build or evaluate the product. The Configurator allows survey respondents to build their ideal product by selecting from a list of available features. Usually, prices are provided at the feature level to ensure that respondents make realistic decisions. As respondents build their own ideal products, the most popular features and feature combinations rise to the surface, resulting in the automatic development of preference based market segments.

The Optimizer is different in that respondents make choices from among fully formed products. Information from their choices is taken into account in creating successive products that are more preferred till the process finally converges on the respondent’s ideal product. This method is more appropriate when the design and packaging (i.e. the visual element) is more important. As with the Configurator, the market segments itself into preference based segments.

The various flavors of conjoint (such as traditional, discrete choice, adaptive) can also be used in this stage to identify feature importance. But care has to be taken to ensure that the basic assumptions are met and that the right type of conjoint is used.

 Beta Testing - Produce a physical prototype or mock-up. Test the product in typical usage situations. Conduct focus group customer interviews... make adjustments werhe necessary

Product Testing

Conjoint analysis can be fruitfully used in this stage also to estimate the interest in various product combinations and especially in running market simulations. The latter ability is very important in cases where a strong competitive market exists and reasonable estimates of take-rates and ability to choose the ideal combination for the market are requisites.

Concept testing is much more limited than conjoint and is usually used when the product is almost set except for perhaps one or two questions, often relating to price.

Assessing the market’s appetite for the product in its current form is the overriding objective of concept testing.

In short, the chaos of the product development process can be structured, and appropriate methods applied, to gain maximum benefit at different stages.

TYPES OF NEW PRODUCT RESEARCH

NEW MARKETS / EXISTING PRODUCTS: This involves entering a new geographical division or a new market segmet.

EXISTING MARKETS / EXISTING PRODUCT: Cordial relationionship with existing customers.

NEW MARKETS / NEW PRODUCTS: This involves entering a new market with a new product.

EXISTING MARKETS / NEW PRODUCTS: Find opportunities for new products in existing markets.

RESEARCH REPORT FORMAT

 

FORMAT OF RESEARCH REPORTS

Dr. Miriam Helen Hill

[adapted from: John W. Best, Research in Education, 2nd ed., (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1970)].

A. Preliminary Section

1. Title Page

2. Acknowledgments (if any)

3. Table of Contents

4. List of Tables (if any)

5. List of Figures (if any)

6. Abstract

 

B. Main Body

1. Introduction

a. Statement of the Problem

b. Significance of the Problem (and historical background)

c. Purpose

d. Statement of Hypothesis

e. Assumptions

f. Limitations

g. Definition of Terms

h. Ethical Considerations

i. Budget (proposal only)

j. Proposed Timeline (proposal only)

2. Review of Related Literature (and analysis of previous research)

3. Design of the Study

a. Description of Research Design and Procedures Used

b. Sources of Data

c. Sampling Procedures

d. Methods and Instruments of Data Gathering

e. Statistical Treatment

4. Analysis of Data contains:

a. text with appropriate

b. tables and

c. figures

5. Summary and Conclusions

a. Restatement of the Problem

b. Description of Procedures

c. Major Findings (reject or fail to reject Ho)

d. Conclusions

e. Recommendations for Further Investigation

 

C. Reference Section

1. End Notes (if in that format of citation)

2. Bibliography or Literature Cited

3. Appendix

RESEARCH PROCESS STAGES

Stages in Research process.

Stage 1: Formulating the Marketing Research Problem

Formulating a problem is the first step in the research process. In many ways, research starts with a problem that management is facing. This problem needs to be understood, the cause diagnosed, and solutions developed. However, most management problems are not always easy to research. A management problem must first be translated into a research problem. Once you approach the problem from a research angle, you can find a solution. For example, “sales are not growing” is a management problem.

Translated into a research problem, we may examine the expectations and experiences of several groups: potential customers, first-time buyers, and repeat purchasers. We will determine if the lack of sales is due to:

 Poor expectations that lead to a general lack of desire to buy, or

 Poor performance experience and a lack of desire to repurchase.

What then is the difference between a management problem and a research problem? Management problems focus on an action. Do we advertise more? Do we change our advertising message? Do we change an under-performing product configuration? If so, how? Research problems, on the other hand, focus on providing the information you need in orderto solve the management problem.

 

Stage 2: Method of Inquiry

The scientific method is the standard pattern for investigation. It provides an opportunity for you to use existing knowledge as a starting point and proceed impartially.

The scientific method includes the following steps:

1. Formulate a problem

2. Develop a hypothesis

3. Make predictions based on the hypothesis

4. Devise a test of the hypothesis

5. Conduct the test

6. Analyze the results

The terminology is similar to the stages in the research process. However, there are subtle differences in the way the steps are performed. For example, the scientific method is objective while the research process can be subjective.

Objective-based research (quantitative research) relies on impartial analysis.

The facts are the priority in objective research. On the other hand, subjective-based research (qualitative research) emphasizes personal judgment as one collect and analyze data.

Stage 3: Research Method

In addition to selecting a method of inquiry (objective or subjective), one must select a research method.

There are two primary methodologies that can be used to answer any research question:

 Experimental research and

 Non-experimental research.

Experimental research gives you the advantage of controlling extraneous variables and manipulating one or more variables that influences the process being implemented.

Non-experimental research allows observation but not intervention. One simply observes and reports on findings.

 

Stage 4: Research Design

The research design is a plan or framework for conducting the study and collecting data. It is defined as the specific methods and procedures one use to acquire the information needed.

 

Stage 5: Data Collection Techniques:

Research design will develop as researcher selects techniques to use. There are many ways to collect data. Two important methods to consider are interviews and observation.

Interviews require researcher to ask questions and receive responses.

Common modes of research communication include interviews conducted face-to-face, by mail, by telephone, by email, or over the Internet. This broad category of research techniques is known as survey research. These techniques are used in both non-experimental research and experimental research.

Another way to collect data is by observation. Observing a person’s or company’s past or present behavior can predict future purchasing decisions. Data collection techniques for past behavior can include analyzing company records and reviewing studies published by external sources. In order to analyze information from interview or observation techniques, researcher must record the results. Because the recorded results are vital, measurement and development are closely linked to which data collection techniques researcher decide on. The way researcher record the data changes depends on which method researcher uses.

 

Stage 6: Sample Design

Marketing research project rarely examine an entire population. It’s more practical to use a sample—a smaller but accurate representation of the greater population. In order to design sample, researcher must find answers to these questions:

1. From which base population is the sample to be selected?

2. What is the method (process) for sample selection?

3. What is the size of the sample?

Once researcher has established who the relevant population is (completed in the problem formulation stage), researcher have a base for sample. This will allow researcher to make inferences about a larger population. There are two methods of selecting a sample from a population:

 Probability or

 Non-probability sampling.

The probability method relies on a random sampling of everyone within the larger population.

Non- probability is based in part on the judgment of the investigator, and often employs convenience samples, or by other sampling methods that do not rely on probability. The final stage of the sample design involves determining the appropriate sample size. This important step involves cost and accuracy decisions. Larger samples generally reduce sampling error and increase accuracy, but also increase costs.

Stage 7: Data Collection

Once researcher established the first six stages, he can move on to data collection.

Depending on the mode of data collection, this part of the process can require large amounts of personnel and a significant portion of research budget. Personal (face-to-face) and telephone interviews may require researcher to use a data collection agency (field service). Internet surveys require fewer personnel, are lower cost, and can be completed in days rather than weeks or months. Regardless of the mode of data collection, the data collection process introduces another essential element to research project: the importance of clear and constant communication.

 

Stage 8: Analysis and Interpretation

In order for data to be useful, researcher must analyze it. Analysis techniques vary and their effectiveness depends on the types of information researcher is collecting, and the type of measurements been used. Because they are dependent on the data collection, analysis techniques should be decided before this step.

 

Stage 9: Research Report

The marketing research process culminates with the research report. This report will include all of information, including an accurate description of research process, the results, conclusions, and recommended courses of action. The report should provide all the information the decision maker needs to understand the project. It should also be written in language that is easy to understand. It’s important to find a balance between completeness and conciseness. Researcher don’t want to leave any information out; however, he can’t let the information get so technical that it overwhelms the reading audience.

One approach to resolving this conflict is to prepare two reports: the technical report and the summary report. The technical report discusses the methods and the underlying assumptions. In this document, researcher discusses the detailed findings of the research project. The summary report, as its name implies, summarizes the research process and presents the findings and conclusions as simply as possible. Another way to keep research findings clear is to prepare several different representations of findings. PowerPoint presentations, graphs, and face-to-face reports are all common methods for presenting research information. Along with the written report for reference, these alternative presentations will allow the decision maker to understand all aspects of the project.

Ref: Dr. H. Lakdawals's AMR notes

VARIABLE LIFE INSURANCE

 NON TRADITIONAL LIFE INSURANCE PRODUCTS 

VARIABLE LIFE INSURANCE PLANS

A permanent life insurance policy that offers coverage as long as the premiums are paid is known as variable life insurance. All types of variable life insurance have three components:

• Death benefit
• Cash value
• Premium

Under this type of insurance policy, every premium payment that you make, a portion of the same goes to the cost of insurance and insurer’s fee. This amount, later, pays to keep the death benefit in place.
The remaining premium is then invested in a number of sub-accounts (similar to mutual funds) available under the policy.

A typical variable life insurance policy has several sub-accounts with offerings of at least 50 options. If the cash value performs well, the death benefit is increased and can be withdrawn as cash or used as collateral. This amount will be given to the insurer in return for giving up the coverage.

PROS AND CONS OF A VARIABLE LIFE INSURANCE POLICY

Variable universal life policy has its own set of pros and cons. Here are a few of them:

Advantages

1.   Helps you pay a premium: The cash value can be used to pay premiums and pay more than the decided premium payments.

2.   Better benefits: Since the remaining amount apart from the death benefit and the insurer’s fee is invested in sub-accounts, the cash value can grow quickly.

Disadvantages

1.   Expensive: Purchasing life insurance is comparatively less expensive in comparison to variable life insurance.

2.   Risky: The risk associated with variable insurance is high as any investment. If it performs poorly, it can decrease the value of the investment.

Variable life insurance is a permanent life insurance product with separate accounts comprised of various instruments and investment funds, such as stocks, bonds, equity funds, money market funds, and bond funds.

 How Variable Life Insurance Works

In some ways, variable life insurance can be described as a form of securities. Why? Because of investment risks, variable policies are considered securities contracts.  

• Variable life insurance is a permanent life insurance product.
• This product contains separate accounts comprised of various instruments and investment funds.
• Variable policies are considered securities contracts because of investment risks.
• Variable life insurance is often more expensive than other life insurance products, like term life.  

Variable life insurance policies have specific tax benefits, such as the tax-deferred accumulation of earnings. Provided the policy remains in force, policyholders may access the cash value via a tax-free loan. However, unpaid loans, including principal and interest, reduce the death benefit.

Additionally, interest or earnings included in partial and full surrenders of the policy are taxable at the time of distribution.

Like most life insurance policies, individuals are required to undergo full medical underwriting to obtain a variable life insurance policy. Those people with compromised health or those who have other unfavorable underwriting factors may not qualify for coverage or may realize higher premiums.

UNIT LINKED INSURANCE PLANS (ULIP)

 

UNIT LINKED INSURANCE PLANS (ULIP)

ULIP was first introduced in India in 1971. Since 2010, ULIPs have been regulated and managed by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). ULIP is a financial instrument which performs the dual functions of insurance and investment within the same plan. A small portion of the premium goes towards the life insurance element, and the rest is systematically invested. This investment is offered by the insurer in a variety of qualified investments in varying proportions of debt and equity stocks, similar to the investment vehicle of mutual funds. The returns on your investments depend upon the performance of the fund opted by you.

ULIP funds have an obvious edge over traditional insurance policies due to the dual benefits of protection and growth. Additionally, these plans also help you meet your financial goals by providing an opportunity to invest in an array of options that you can customise to suit your needs.

There are other benefits too:

·         Tax Savings: Under Section 80C, 10(10D) and other provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961, the premium invested in ULIPs, the returns and the maturity amount from such plans are all exempt from taxation. You can show the premiums paid for your ULIP policy and claim deductions of up to Rs. 1, 50,000 against your taxable income.

·         A ULIP policy also offers loyalty additions, which add to your savings amount on maturity.

 

How does a ULIP policy work?

You pay the periodic premium for the plan, part of it goes into life insurance, the remaining is invested in the funds of your choice (whether equity, debt or hybrid).
Upon policy maturity, you receive the aggregate value for the policy across all the funds you opted for. On the other hand, in the unfortunate event of death, your nominee or beneficiary receives the higher of
i) Fund value
ii) Sum assured
iii) 105% of premiums paid till date of death (the amount received as death benefit also depends on whether your policy is a Type 1 or Type 2 ULIP).

Lock-in period

While ULIP plans offer you the benefit of partial withdrawals, these can only be availed after the completion of the lock-in period, that is, five years from the inception of the policy.

 

Charges

Insurance companies deduct some charges from your ULIP plan including administration charges, fund management expenses, switching charges, partial withdrawal charges and mortality charges.

 

ULIP investments serve a specific purpose

ULIP investments are designed to help you secure your goals for wealth creation, with specific objectives like saving for child’s education or building a retirement corpus.

ULIP For Retirement requires you to pay the premium during the whole tenure of your employment. This builds a corpus and is used to purchase annuities after your retirement.

ULIP For Wealth Collection lets you accumulate wealth and serves as an investment vehicle for the longer term.

ULIP For Child Education lets you protect your child’s future by allowing payouts for the key milestones in their lives, even in your absence.

ULIPs For Health Benefits, as the name suggests, makes provision for medical exigencies.

Therefore, ULIPs stand out from the rest of the financial instruments in that they offer benefits of both life cover and investments. It is a convenient way for you to enter the market and reap benefits through risk-bearing while delegating the task to professionals. Tax exemptions and flexibility of choice makes them an even more attractive proposition. ULIPs let you have larger control by letting you track your portfolio performance too.