Nov 24 Reuters Life Insurance Corp. of India LIC hopes to book profit of around 400 billion rupees 4.90 billion from selling stocks it holds in 202223, the staterun firm39;s chairman told Reuters, mirroring the profit made last year as market conditions remain volatile.

India39;s benchmark Nifty 50 has risen 6.51 so far this year as of Thursday39;s close, after losing 9.07 in the first half of the calendar year.

We are hoping that profits from equity portfolio would be same as last year, depending on market conditions, Mangalam Ramasubramanian Kumar said.

While we are long term investors and also contrarian in nature, we are not averse to booking profits, Kumar said.

LIC is aiming to increase its share of premium or participating policies to 15 in two years from about 9 presently, Kumar said.

We are looking forward to increasing this to 25 over a 4 to 5 year period, he said.

Nonparticipating or 39;nonpar39; policies have fixed returns and do not require an insurer to share profits with policyholders.

LIC traditionally targets participating business as opposed to private competitors who have been undertaking more highmargin nonpar business.

India39;s largest insurer listed in May following a record 2.7 billion share sale, but the stock is now trading over 34 lower than its issue price.

LIC39;s management is trying to revive value for shareholders, and recently transferred funds from its nonpar fund to its shareholders fund.

The change in product mix is clear…