Fund Switching Techniques in ULIP

Unit-Linked Insurance Plans offer a dual advantage where you can enjoy a life cover as well as invest in the fund type of your choice. An ideal strategy that many people follow is to opt for a particular type of fund option and stay invested until policy maturity while expecting good returns.

To help you meet your life goals and mitigate any investment risks, ULIPs enable you to switch funds. With the help of a ULIP fund switch, you can manage your investment returns for lucrative gains. Thus, you can move your investments from one fund to another in case of increased market volatility or to suit your long term financial objectives.

There are different types of fund options available in ULIPs such as equity, debt, and balanced funds that you can invest in. Depending on factors such as your risk appetite, life goals, age, and many others, you can choose a suitable fund option.

Going forward, in case you aren’t satisfied with the returns earned from your ULIP investment or due to increased market volatility, you can switch from one fund type to another. The units can be transferred partially or completely between the investment fund. Initially, you get a limited number of free fund switches in ULIP. On exhausting these, you will have to pay a fund switch charge to transfer your units to another fund option.

Generally, there are two types of fund switching techniques in ULIP plans, namely life stage based fund switching and fund switching to maximise profit.

1. Life Stage Based Fund Switching

Life stage based fund switching works on the principle that the risk appetite of an investor is based on which life stage they are in. Thus, many individuals tend to have a higher risk appetite when they are young as they can afford to take risks.

However, as you grow older, it is highly advisable to switch from equity-oriented funds to debt funds which are low risk in nature. You can use such ULIP fund switching techniques to suit your life stage and earn lucrative returns.

2. Fund Switching to Maximise Profit

Here, the switching from equity-oriented funds to debt funds and vice versa depends on the market performance. However, one needs to be very careful when using this type of fund switch in insurance as market fluctuations are quite unpredictable. To maximise your ULIP benefits, you must have a good understanding of the fund pattern of your investment plan and the share market.

Timing the market or anticipating its ups and downs is not always a feasible option for many investors. Instead, you can cut your losses if you are not happy with a fund’s performance or switch to safer funds if you foresee a drop in the market. For instance, if you want to lower your risks during high market volatility, you could transfer a major chunk of your ULIP investment to debt funds. Later, you can switch back to equity once the market picks up again.

Additionally, you can also make switches according to your life stage or personal financial goals. Younger investors may be more willing to take on risks than older investors. Once you start nearing your investment goals, you can switch to low-risk debt funds and secure your capital.

1. Initiate your ULIP plan by investing in debt funds as the risk involved is low and the returns are steady

2. Have patience and keep your debt funds intact for as long as possible

3. Make sure that you do not wait to make the switch until the stock market reaches the lowest point

4. Switch from debt funds to equity-oriented funds after the stock market has been steady for some period

5. Remain patient in case of unpredictable market fluctuations and wait for it to stabilise

6. Avoid making fund switches during every high and low of the market

7. Stay invested for the long term to gain high ULIP returns

It is crucial to have a basic understanding of the features of Unit-Linked Insurance Plans before investing in the policy. Many investors start using the online ULIP fund switch option without learning how it works. This can negatively impact your ULIP investment and the expected returns. Thus, it is recommended to know how the stock market variations impact the fund performance to help you make fund switching decisions.

Before investing in ULIPs, you can make use of our ULIP risk calculator to understand your risk appetite and find a suitable plan accordingly!