Strong growth in pensions coupled with a high take-up of the Government-backed savings scheme has boosted sales at life and pensions company, Canada Life.
The firm has reported a 39 per cent increase in new business at its Irish operations in 2001 and, with pensions expected to continue to grow strongly, it is predicting another strong performance this year.
According to the industry standard for measuring new business, sales increased from €92.7 million (£73.5 million) to €128.4 million last year. This is calculated by adding up its total annual premium sales, plus 10 per cent of its single premium business.
This is a particularly strong performance, with the life assurance industry expected to show overall growth of around 10 per cent for 2001.
The bulk of the growth was driven by strong demand for pensions and large numbers of customers availing of the Government's Special Savings Investment Accounts. Uncertainty about world equity markets triggered a drop in demand for single premium investment type products, which is continuing.
Sales of life and pensions policies with annual premiums increased by 70 per cent to €91.8 million, but single premium sales dropped by 13 per cent to €337 million.
Announcing the figures yesterday, Canada Life chief executive, Mr Tom Barry, said the company had now had five years of successive growth and was one of the fastest growing major life assurance companies in this market.
In terms of pensions, the continuing strong demand supported a 39 per cent increase in annual premium sales to €42 million, with single premium sales up 29 per cent to €155 million.
Sales of life policies were very buoyant, with the group more than doubling the amount of annual premium products sold last year, to €49.8 million.
A high proportion of this growth was generated by a good take-up of SSIAs. According to Canada Life, its customers contributed €22 million to these accounts by the end of 2001. The SSIAs were introduced last May and can be opened until the end of April of this year.
Mr Barry expects to see as much business in the next four months, as the April deadline approaches, as there was last year.
The figures also include sales of €2.9 million from the German market, which is administered from Canada Life's operations based at Dublin's International Financial Services Centre.
Mr Barry said Canada Life had outperformed the general life assurance sector in 2001 and was well positioned to do the same this year.
He estimates the market will grow by around 10 per cent in 2002, and that Canada Life will exceed that.
Canada Life Group will report profits in February when the profitability of the Irish operations will be revealed.
Looking to the future, the company has said it is interested in forming strategic links, possibly with small financial institutions which do not have their own life assurance operations.
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