Heard of Gideon du Plessis? Sorry, he is no artist or a football player but the highest earning insurance agent in the world with annual commissions above Rs 7 crore (Rs 70 million)!

As an agent of Old Mutual Plc, Plessis sells 700 policies annually, something he has been doing for over the past 12 years.

The international association of leading life insurance and financial services professionals, the Million Dollar Round Table, has thus honoured Plessis as "the most productive agent in the world".

Back home, the highest selling agent of Life Insurance Corporation of India earns a commission of Rs 2.1 crore (Rs 21 million).

So what does it take to make it big in this growing business of selling insurance products? Not much really.

Just 18 years of age, and having passed 12th standard or equivalent or 10th standard or equivalent should he/she want to be an agent in rural areas where the population is 5,000.

Since the insurance industry opened to the private sector back in 2000, demand for agents is on the rise. The state mammoth, the Life Insurance Corporation of India itself has increased its agency force to 10 lakh (1 million) and private players are equally growing the number of feet on the street, but by a far lower margin.

So how does one go about becoming an agent. First of all, one needs to be affiliated with an insurance company to undergo the necessary 100 hours training, as per the guidelines laid down by the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority, the apex body of the insurance industry in India.

Practical training of 100 hours will be provided by Irda-approved training centers and 150 hours of training should an individual choose to sell both life and non-life insurance products.

This training is usually spread over three to four weeks, and there is relaxation of 50 to 70 hours in the event that the candidate possesses extra professional qualification.

Renewing one's license in the case of existing agents calls for 25 to 50 hours of training. Candidates have to pass the agency exam -- conducted by an Irda-recognised institute -- with at least 50 per cent marks.

Thereafter, the insurance company will conduct an interview for which the candidate needs to score an additional 15 markets out of 25.

A license fee of Rs 250 is payable to Irda and Rs 150 for renewal licence. The bank draft to be submitted to a designated person at the reporting office along with the application form.

On becoming an agent, one has to adhere to the code of conduct as outlined by Irda. Under the code, agents have to ensure that the insurance application is filled by the applicant availing the insurance policy, and it is equally mandatory for agents to disclose on demand the commission that they are entitled to from the proposal.

A life insurance agent can earn anywhere between 2 per cent and 40 per cent of the premium payable on the insurance policy.

For instance, an agent stands to gain 2 per cent of the premium paid on single premium products, but, in absolute terms, this works out to be a hefty amount.

Similarly, on pension plans the agency commission is lower than say 40 per cent on endowment plans. This partly explains why certain insurance policies used to be more popular in the past. Today, with the entry of private insurers, sale of policies is mostly need-based.

On the non-life side, agents can earn as low as 5 per cent and a maximum of 15 per cent depending upon the type of product.

Even as commissions on sale of personal line products is as high as 15 per cent, in absolute terms this is pretty low since annual premium on such products amount to a few hundred rupees. A Mediclaim plan for instance, can earn an agent 15 per cent commission.

From January onwards, it is essential that life insurance agents use a standardised rate of return on policies as laid down by the Life Insurance Council. This is in an endeavour to ensure greater transparency.

The following are Irda-approved training institutes:

Schoolnet India (249355127/ 24964353,
Express Insurance Academy, (22659339),
The New India Assurance Company Corporate Training College,
(2674617/ 2674622),
College of Insurance (2660095/ 2650760),
NIS Sparta Ltd (28597592/ 28513506)