ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has launched a new market-linked pension product, 'ICICI Pru Signature Pension' designed to help customers build a "cost-effective and tax-efficient retirement plan".

This product will cater to the growing need for robust retirement planning solutions in India, the company said.

"The product allows customers to participate in India's economic growth story while building their retirement corpus. It offers unlimited free switches between equity, debt, and balanced funds, enabling policyholders to maximise their returns," the company said in a statement.

This market-linked pension plan offers a tax-efficient approach to systematically accumulate savings, with the added benefit of up to 60% tax-free lump sum withdrawals at maturity.

As the first product of its kind in India to combine capital safety with partial liquidity options, it also includes complimentary health check-ups, making it a comprehensive choice for securing a financially independent retirement.

Announcing the launch, Amit Palta, Chief Distribution Officer, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, said, "We are delighted to offer ICICI Pru Signature Pension, a market linked product which enables customers to participate in the India growth story to build their retirement corpus. With this product we are also offering two new funds - ICICI Pru Pension India Growth Fund and ICICI Pru Pension Balanced Fund."

Notably, the feature of 'advancing' or 'postponing' the income start date can enable the Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) generation. Customers can choose to advance or postpone their income start date, providing flexibility in achieving early retirement or delaying income receipt upon retirement.

Importantly, the product allows customers to make a tax-free withdrawal of up to 60% of the accumulated savings at the end of the policy tenure with the balance required to be deployed to purchase an annuity to receive guaranteed lifelong income.

The product also features a partial withdrawal option to address liquidity requirements without disrupting the overall savings plan. Additionally, a top-up feature allows policyholders to make additional investments to boost their retirement savings.
Protection against unforeseen circumstances, to safeguard the retirement plan against potential disruptions, the product offers a waiver of premium add-on benefit.

"Opting for the waiver of premium add-on benefit will insulate the retirement plan from being disrupted due to a critical illness or permanent disability due to an accident. The partial withdrawal feature can aid in overcoming liquidity requirements without disturbing the savings plan. Also, the top-up feature allows customers to make additional investments to boost their retirement savings," said Palta.

Key Features of "ICICI Pru Signature Pension"

- Market-linked retirement savings plan with up to 100 per cent equity exposure.

- Tax-free withdrawal of up to 60 per cent of the accumulated corpus.

- Flexibility for partial withdrawals to meet liquidity needs.

- Waiver of premium add-on benefit to ensure uninterrupted retirement planning