ARK Life expects to take over from Irish Life as the Republic's No 1 life assurance company on the basis of new sales in 1996.

Publishing sales figures for 1996, the company also said its tracker bond products drove its single premium sales up by 57 per cent to £101.5 million. New annual premiums were 84 per cent ahead at £23 million.

The firm, a subsidiary of Allied Irish Banks, said that although its rival had not yet published its 1996 sales figures, Ark Life had most likely overtaken Irish Life in the life assurance market in terms of new sales.

Ark Life had an Annual Premium Equivalent (APE) of £33.2 million, an increase of 75 per cent on its 1995 results.

Company executives said yesterday that its plan for 1997 was to target the pensions sector.

"We're now going for the pensions market, and what you're going to see is a fairly unashamed price led strategy," said Mr Brian Woods, Ark Life's finance director.

The company's new pension products have been tweaked to reduce the upfront charges for customers, but the management fee and other charges have been increased, Mr Woods said. This was necessary to ensure that the final pension amount was not diminished, he added.

Mr Fred Dinmore, managing director, said new regular premium sales for last year came to £23 million, an increase of 84 per cent on 1995. Regular life business soared 118 per cent to £19.4 million, but new regular pensions remained static at £3.6 million.

Tracker bonds - derivatives which allow customers to invest on the stock exchange but include a guaranteed income to limit their negative exposure - produced over £60 million of the company's £101.5 million single premium income.

The firm has also recruited 20 consultants and made changes in its training methods to reflect the planned drive in the pensions market, Mr Dinmore said.