Irish Life profits rose by 54% to €57 million in first quarter

Profits at Irish Life rose sharply in the first quarter of this year, according to results published by its Canadian parent Great-West Lifeco,

Irish Life contributed €57 million to Lifeco’s profits in the period, a 54 per cent increase on the same quarter of 2014 when the contribution was €34 million

Irish Life chief executive Bill Kyle said results at Irish Life Investment Managers (ILIM) played a significant part in the company’s growth during the three-month period.

“Assets under management at ILIM exceeded €50 billion for the first time at the end of quarter one, as markets continued to rise,” Mr Kyle said. “In addition, we achieved strong sales of our multi-asset portfolio strategies (MAPS) to the institutional and retail markets.”

In the retail market, the MAPS investment funds doubled in size over the past six months, which Irish Life said illustrated the “strength of demand” from customers for products that offer potential to “out-perform low deposit rates while also seeking to protect against downside risk”.

ILIM was recently awarded the contract to manage all the underlying investments and asset servicing requirements of Ark Life, which has more than 200,000 policyholders. These assets are valued at more than €2 billion.

Great-West Lifeco acquired Irish Life from the State for €1.3 billion in mid 2013. It has since integrated the business with its existing Canada Life subsidiary here. Irish Life is the biggest life, investment and pension company in the country.