A Mutual Society - run for its members
You’re all that matters to us
Friendly societies (which are sometimes called mutual societies), like building societies, have traditionally been founded by groups of people who shared their resources to get rewards.
Nowadays, these societies offer you the same and very similar services as banks or insurance companies. But the difference is that the profits generated by these Societies don't go to City Shareholders but are retained for the benefit of the policyholders. Their members may also benefit from higher interest rates on savings and investments and generally have fewer or lower fees on services offered by the mutual society.
Scottish Friendly Assurance Society Limited
At the heart is Scottish Friendly Assurance Society Limited (SFAS), the largest mutual life office in Scotland. Scottish Friendly Assurance Society Limited uses all the tax-efficient advantages of a mutual friendly society to deliver cost-effective, low entry investments, assurance, insurance and investment products to people from all walks of life through a highly sophisticated direct marketing and partnership operation. SFAS is also supported by the group’s highly efficient administration capability which provides extremely effective customer service resulting in high levels of customer satisfaction.
At Scottish Friendly, we work hard for you. As a mutual society, we don’t have shareholders, so profits are distributed among our with profits policyholders in the form of bonuses.
We're mutual, we only work for you
UK financial organisations are all authorised by the Financial Services Authority and are either 'mutuals' or public limited companies (PLCs). Mutual organisations are not owned by external shareholders (like a PLC) but work for, and only answers to customers like you.
Experience and scale
Friendly societies are not small. Together they manage over £80bn in assets and have more than 19 million UK customers. They typically have over 100 years of experience and heritage in providing for the savings and protection needs of their customers – in our case 150 years.
Trust
The managers of mutual societies are only responsible to you, not to shareholders. Research also shows that on average mutual customers are more likely to recommend a mutual organisation than a PLC.
Greater potential value
Research by AFM shows that in 2007 PLC insurers paid out on average 3.1p to shareholders for every £1 invested by their customers. With no shareholders to pay, mutuals can ensure that their profits are only distributed to customers like you, or reinvested to give you better returns, better value and higher levels of service.
Better service
What’s more, according to independent surveys, friendly societies have higher levels of customer satisfaction than banks. The staff realise that you own the organisation they work for. So they try harder to please you.
Still, you get the same protection. Like all UK financial organisations we’re authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
Scottish Friendly is a member of the Association of Financial Mutuals (AFM), a merger of the Association of Mutual Insurers (AMI) and the Association of Friendly Societies (AFS).
To find out more go to www.ownedbyyou.org