London, 15 August, 2000 - The UK operation of Zurich Financial Services today announced a 16 per cent increase in total life and investment new premiums to £1.5bn in the first six months of 2000. Significant growth in the Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) market was coupled with strong results for the Allied Dunbar Franchise Network, following the successful integration of the Abbey Life salesforce. These results reinforce strongly the success of the Group’s multi-channel distribution strategy in the UK market.
Other highlights include:
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Strong growth in annualised new business premiums (APE) - up 12 per cent to £267m
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IFA new business premiums (APE) up 21 per cent to £107m
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Allied Dunbar Franchise Network (ADFN) new business premiums (APE) up 10 per cent to £142m
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Overall investment sales up 24 per cent to £1bn.
Download UK Life and Investment New Business Results for First Half 2000 (Microsoft Excel, 19KB)
Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) Business
The 21 per cent increase saw annualised new business premiums (APE) through the IFA channel reach £107m in the first half of 2000. This represents a 119 per cent increase in sales through this distribution channel over the past three years, thereby positioning Zurich as an important and committed player in the IFA market. Investment sales through IFAs grew strongly, with sales up 40 per cent, and sales of pensions also rose by 15 per cent.
Allied Dunbar Franchise Network
The first six months of 2000 saw further strong growth for the Allied Dunbar Franchise Network, with new business premiums (APE) increasing 10 per cent to £142m, boosted by a 33 per cent increase in Threadneedle sales. At the same time, the Franchise Network introduced £3.34bn of mortgages in the first six months, maintaining its position as the largest introducer of mortgages in the UK. The Franchise Network attracted a record level of adviser recruits from within the industry (367 in first half year) and this, together with the 745 advisers recruited from Abbey Life, brings the total Franchise Network from just below 4,000 to almost 5,000 at the end of the first half of 2000.
Commenting on the results, Sandy Leitch, Chief Executive of Zurich Financial Services (UKISA), said:
"Our strong first half results show that we have the ability to deliver excellent performance while also driving through significant changes across the whole organisation in the UK. So far this year we have launched a number of e-business initiatives, including Allied Dunbar on-line, Property Now and our first e-community - justforteachers.co.uk. We are also now selling life products direct through the internet and using the web to strengthen our links with intermediaries.
"This multi-channel approach is vital to meeting consumer demand, with the strong growth in both of our main advice-based distribution channels showing that different consumers want to buy from different channels. We have a number of exciting initiatives still to come in 2000, including the launch of electronic trading and additional e-communities "
Brian Thomas, Zurich Financial Services (UKISA)’s Finance Director, added:
"These are excellent results compared to the market and show that we can deliver volume growth at the same time as building distribution power for the future. The prospects for the second half are very encouraging, with the Abbey Life sales force set to make a strong impact now they are fully integrated, and with our IFA channel set to continue its very rapid growth trend."
