Basis of Claims Management Claims management means and includes all the managerial decisions and processes concerning the settlement and payment of claims in accordance with the terms of insurance contract. It includes carrying out the entire claims process with a particular emphasis on monitoring and lowering the claims costs. The important elements of claims management are claims preparation, claims philosophy, claims processing and claims settlement. The claims philosophy is defined as procedure or specified approach to settle the claims. It contains the claims management principles and also claims handling methods and procedures. The claims philosophy includes the preparation of guidelines regarding the receipt of claims from the insurers or claimants, analysis of the claims, consideration of the possible decision on the particular issues and disputes, evaluating the impact of the claims cost and expenses, relation of claims to the consumer satisfaction, monitoring the claim payment and improving the efficiency of Continue reading
Investment Options
Dividend Investing
For those who are still considered greenhorns in the investment world, a dividend is the payment distributed by a company to all its shareholders. For the longest time, dividend investing has been a permanent fixture in wealth building and wealth management programs because of the kind of financial security it provides. An investor and expert financial planner earns in divided investments through dividend payments, which forms part of a company’s profit. The other profit portion not distributed to the investors will be pumped back into the capitalization used to fuel the operation of the company. Most wealth management and wealth building programs include dividend investing. To place investments strategically, a professional financial planner would be necessary. One who deals with dividend investing would need the expertise provided by a financial planner when playing with the rise and fall of share prices. With dividend investing as part of an individual’s wealth Continue reading
Treasury Bills – Meaning, Features, Types and Importance
Just like commercial bills which represent commercial debt, treasury bills represent short-term borrowings of the Government. Treasury bill market refers to the market where treasury bills are brought and sold. Treasury bills are very popular and enjoy higher degree of liquidity since they are issued by the government. Meaning and Features of Treasury Bills A treasury bills nothing but promissory note issued by the Government under discount for a specified period stated therein. The Government promises to pay the specified amount mentioned therein to the beater of the instrument on the due date. The period does not exceed a period of one year. It is purely a finance bill since it does not arise out of any trade transaction. It does not require any ‘grading’ or’ endorsement’ or ‘acceptance’ since it is clams against the Government. Treasury bill are issued only by the RBI on behalf of the Government. Treasury Continue reading
Commercial Bills Market or Discount Market
A commercial bill is one which arises out of a genuine trade transaction, i.e. credit transaction. As soon as goods are sold on credit, the seller draws a bill on the buyer for the amount due. The buyer accepts it immediately agreeing to pay amount mentioned therein after a certain specified date. Thus, a bill of exchange contains a written order from the creditor to the debtor, to pay a certain sum, to a certain person, after a creation period. A bill of exchange is a ‘self-liquidating’ paper and negotiable/; it is drawn always for a short period ranging between 3 months and 6 months. Definition of Bill of Exchange Section 5 of the negotiable Instruments Act defines a bill of exchange as “an instrument in writing containing an unconditional order, signed by the maker, directing a certain person to pay a certain sum of money only to, or to Continue reading
Mutual Funds in India
The Mutual Fund industry started with the setting up of Unit Trust of India. The money market mutual fund segment has a total corpus of $1.48 trillion in the USA against a corpus of $100 million in India. The entry of private sector and foreign institutions in 1993 provided a boost to the Indian mutual fund industry in the form of different schemes launched. The Government of India took the initiative of developing mutual fund industry by offering various tax soaps in the budget and enabling it to play an important role in mobilization of savings and in the development of the financial market. Till 1960s, the Indian mutual fund industry was not in existence. In 1963, the Government of India took the initiative by passing the UTI Act, under which the Unit Trust of India was set-up as a statutory body. The designated role of UTI was to act Continue reading
Types of Mutual Fund Schemes: By Investment Objective
A scheme can also be classified as growth scheme, income scheme, or balanced scheme considering its investment objective. Such schemes may be open-ended or close-ended schemes as described earlier. Such schemes may be classified mainly as follows: 1. Growth / Equity Oriented Schemes The aim of growth funds is to provide capital appreciation over the medium to long- term. Such schemes normally invest a major part of their corpus in equities. Such funds have comparatively high risks. These schemes provide different options to the investors like dividend option, capital appreciation, etc. and the investors may choose an option depending on their preferences. The investors must indicate the option in the application form. The mutual funds also allow the investors to change the options at a later date. Growth schemes are good for investors having a long-term outlook seeking appreciation over a period of time. Equity funds As explained earlier, such Continue reading