Based on the advise of the ICICI pru executive who explained me all the details of the plan very well, I invested in Lifestagewealth 2, which is one of the ULIP plans from ICICI Pru. I was satisfied and optimistic that I would get a return of at least 12-13% in 5 years plus term life insurance.
But, I saw the real face of the product when I received the policy document by post. Firstly, many details in my application were incorrect. Secondly, and more importantly, in addition to the one-time ’allotment charge’ of 2% of premium, there were 3 other periodic charges!
Policy admin charge, mortality charge, and one more. Which amounts to about 4% per annum!
The projected profit of the plan in the policy document is only 10-11%. So, whats the point in paying 4% charges to the bank to get 11% profit at the end of 5 yrs, you end up with only 6-7% profit (provided the fund performs well in the market). Instead, a FD will easily get you at least 9% and maybe some tax benefit too!
So, finally within the free-look period of 15 days, I wanted to cancel the policy, Thankfully, The ICICI Pru executives were very courteous and good to deal with this situation, and accepted that they did not reveal all the hidden charges. And within a week, I got a refund of the entire premium minus the loss due to NAV adjustment.
My verdict is to never invest in any ICIC Pru ULIP products, your losses are guaranteed for the next 5-10 years!