Scottish Friendly forges ahead with 35% sales growth in 2012
Scottish Friendly, Scotland’s largest mutual society, has today announced an impressive 35% increase in sales figures in 2012.
The financial services group saw like-for-like sales of its core life and pensions products, based on the industry standard of regular premiums plus one tenth of single premiums, rise 35% in the past 12 months to £8.5 million from £6.3 million in 20111.
The strong growth was achieved despite the challenging economic climate and a depressed market for savings and investment products across the industry.
Scottish Friendly’s sales and marketing director Neil Lovatt said:
This has been yet another strong year for sales at the Scottish Friendly group as we have continued to reap the benefits of our growing e-business and partnership distribution.
The new flexible online products we introduced in 2011 continued to grow in popularity. In December, building on our experience in the wrap platform market, we launched a new more flexible approach to ISA investment that really brings the world of stocks and shares ISAs to everyone – not just the wealthy and well-advised.
Scottish Friendly secured two major new partnerships in 2012 as the group diversified into the life cover and critical illness market following the sale of its wrap administration business to Citi at the end of 2011. These new life partnerships were Beagle Street (BGL) which is part of the group behind comparethemarket.com and Neilson Financial Services, part of Australia’s Hollard Life, under its Smart Insurance brand. Additionally the group developed its existing partnership with Golden Charter, helping to supply insurance policies to back the provider’s funeral plans.
In the current difficult economic environment these results are a tangible sign of the benefit of the flexibility afforded by the Scottish Friendly group and the strength of our diversify and grow strategy
Added Lovatt.
Our new approach to ISAs and new life insurance partnerships will become all the more important in 2013.