Wednesday, 28 May 2008
Reliance Mutual Insurance Society Limited (Reliance Mutual) has revealed
strong financial results for 2007 with assets growing by 30% to £1.7
billion (2006, £1.3 billion) and up three fold since the start of
its acquisition programme in 2003 (when assets were £491 million).
Commenting on the 2007 figures, Mark Goodale, Chief Executive of Reliance
Mutual said, “Our strategy is focused on the acquisition of
blocks of policies closed to new business and the sale of niche products
through IFA’s and other business partners. 2007 has been a particularly
successful year, with acquisitions dominating our activities. New
business premiums increased marginally during 2007. Unlike many life
assurers, new business is not the prime financial indicator of the Group’s
performance but nevertheless, this was a good result, given our focus on
acquisitions during the year.”
In 2007 Reliance Mutual successfully completed the acquisition of University
Life, a subsidiary of Equitable Life Assurance Society and Hearts of Oak
Insurance Company, formerly Hearts of Oak Friendly Society.
Goodale continued, “Being a mutual organisation Reliance Mutual’s
priority will always be to look after our existing members (policyholders)
and act in their best interests. Achieving scale to ensure we can maintain
competitive unit costs ensures our members continue to receive good value
for money. The latest tables of with-profit endowment payouts show that we
continue to deliver excellent value to our with-profit policyholders.
We also need to ensure we are financially strong, and 2007 has been another
year of strong performance in solvency terms, with the Fund for Future Appropriations
growing 6% to £122m.