LIC Pushes for More Long-Term Instruments as Annuity Inflows Surge

State-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India is pressing for a wider supply of long-term investment instruments to match rising demand from its fast-growing annuity business. Chief executive R Doraiswamy said the insurer is engaging with key financial regulators, including the Reserve Bank of India and the market regulator SEBI, to expand access to instruments with longer maturities. Annuity products, which convert an accumulated retirement corpus into a guaranteed, lifelong stream of income, have been drawing steadily higher inflows as India's population ages and more savers seek dependable retirement income. To back these long-dated commitments, life insurers need access to correspondingly long-tenure assets that can reliably match their liabilities over decades. A shortage of such instruments can complicate asset-liability management and constrain how competitively insurers can price guaranteed products. LIC's push reflects a broader challenge across the industry as the annuity and pension segments expand. Deepening the market for long-term bonds and related instruments could help insurers offer better retirement solutions while supporting the development of India's long-term capital markets, an objective regulators have also signalled they support.