ICICI Pru Signature Secure: A Five-Year Single-Premium ULIP With a Guaranteed Maturity Benefit of Up to 140% of Premium

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has launched a unit linked insurance plan, or ULIP, that pairs market-linked investment with a guaranteed payout at maturity. The product, called ICICI Pru Signature Secure, was launched on June 11, 2026, according to reports from IBS Intelligence and CafeMutual. It is a single-premium plan, meaning the customer pays once at the start, with a five-year policy term.

A ULIP combines life insurance with investment. The premium, after charges, is used to buy units in funds that can hold equity, debt or a mix, and the value of those units rises and falls with markets. Traditional ULIPs offer no guarantee on the fund value at maturity, which is why savers who are uncertain about markets often avoid them. Signature Secure adds a floor. At maturity the policyholder is paid the higher of two amounts: the value of the fund, or a guaranteed maturity benefit that the company states can be up to 140 per cent of the premium paid.

The company gave an illustration. A 45-year-old who invests Rs 5 lakh would have a sum assured of Rs 6.25 lakh, and the guaranteed maturity benefit would be Rs 7 lakh. The Rs 7 lakh figure equals 140 per cent of Rs 5 lakh, which is simple arithmetic and shows the top of the quoted range. The sum assured of Rs 6.25 lakh is 125 per cent of the premium. The reports do not explain how the guaranteed percentage is determined for different ages or premiums, and the phrase up to 140 per cent means that some customers may receive a lower guarantee. If the fund performs well, the payout can exceed the guarantee, since the policyholder gets whichever is higher.

The plan provides life cover during the term. If the policyholder dies, the nominee receives the benefit defined in the policy, which the coverage describes in terms of a chosen sum assured. The coverage does not set out the exact death benefit formula, so buyers should read the policy document for it. The reports also said that the plan has no premium allocation charge and no policy administration charge. These are two of the charges that commonly reduce the amount invested in a ULIP. However, the coverage did not list other charges such as fund management fees and mortality charges, nor the minimum premium or the fund choices, so the full cost of the product cannot be assessed from these reports.

The company's Chief Product Officer, Vikas Gupta, was quoted on the product in the launch coverage. Earlier summaries called Signature Secure the first ULIP in India with a guaranteed element. The sources reviewed here do not establish that claim, so the first-of-its-kind label should be treated as unconfirmed.

How should a saver think about a product like this? A five-year horizon is short for equities, and a guarantee that is expressed as a multiple of the premium paid over five years has an implied annual return, which for 140 per cent is roughly 7 per cent a year before considering that the sum is paid at the end. That calculation is an approximation using compound growth and ignores tax, and the company does not describe the guarantee as a rate of return. It nonetheless gives a useful way to compare the guarantee with the alternatives, such as fixed deposits, debt funds or traditional savings policies.

The product also has to be viewed against the regulatory background. India's life insurance sector has been reported to be dealing with changes to commission and expense rules, the Bima Sugam digital marketplace and norms linking executive pay to policyholder outcomes. Such changes affect how products are designed and sold, and they increase the importance of clear disclosure, particularly for products with guarantees whose terms may be misunderstood.

Before buying, a customer should check the surrender and lock-in terms, the conditions under which the guarantee applies, whether the guarantee is only payable if the policy runs to full term, how it is backed by the insurer's balance sheet, and what tax treatment applies to maturity proceeds under current rules. Those details determine how the product compares with other options, and none of them appears in the coverage reviewed here, so the policy brochure and benefit illustration are the right place to find them.

One further point concerns the word guarantee. A guaranteed maturity benefit is only as strong as the insurer's ability to pay it, and it applies on the terms of the policy, for example if the policy is held to maturity. A customer who surrenders early would ordinarily receive a surrender value that can be lower than the premium paid, and the coverage does not say how this plan treats early exit. Buyers should therefore treat the five-year term as a commitment and ask for the surrender value table before paying the single premium.