New tax norm to hurt insurers; stocks attractive for the long run: Analysts

Analysts expect stocks to remain under pressure in the near-term as the government's new tax regime push, with no tax saving deductions, could hurt demand for insurance products

Insurance-related stocks have significantly weakened since the Budget proposed to tax income from traditional policies with an annual premium of over Rs 5-lakh. Shares of HDFC Life, SBI Life, ICICI Prudential (ICICI Pru), Max Financial (owner of Max Life), Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), General Insurance Corporation and New India Assurance have lost 3-19 per cent so far since February 1. In comparison, the NSE Nifty has been up around 0.6 per cent during this period. 

Going ahead, analysts expect the underperformance to continue in the near-term as the government’s new tax regime push, with no tax saving deductions, could hurt