Birmingham-based Wesleyan Assurance Society has seen another year of strong growth in 2012.
The mutual, which offers financial services to professionals, saw a 13 per cent increase in new business sales to £47.9 million.
Results announced for the firm also revealed a 39 per cent increase in pension product sales, a 25 per cent increase in life and savings product sales and a 16 per cent increase in profits.
The Wesleyan’s income was boosted with a 16 per cent increase in total premium income to £387 million. The firm also saw a six per cent increase in its general insurance business.
Assets grew by eight per cent to £5.2 billion, while there was an 11.1 per cent annual return on the main with profits fund and a 134.9 per cent ten year cumulative return on the main with profits fund.
Craig Errington, Wesleyan’s chief executive, said: “I’m pleased to report another year of growth for Wesleyan as we reached record sales and income figures as well as assets under management. There was growth in each of our customer segments and within our general insurance business and bank.
“2012 continues a trend of sustained growth for Wesleyan with new business sales showing a 74 per cent increase since 2008, despite the faltering economy.
“It was also a year of intense planning as we prepared for the introduction of the Retail Distribution Review (RDR). In addition to delivering increased sales, our financial consultants also achieved pass rates that were 30 per cent higher than the industry standard for the CII Level 4 exam, the required qualification under the RDR.
“We have continued to invest in our workforce and increased the number of staff by 11 per cent during the year.”
Bryan Jackson CBE, Wesleyan’s chairman, added: “Wesleyan has a clear long term vision to be the best in our chosen markets and we remain fully committed to this. We have achieved significant success in recent years with premium income growing by 133 per cent since 2005. We are now looking at ambitious plans to further grow the society in a significant and sustainable manner. 2013 will be an exciting year as we define the extent of that growth which will have at its root an unerring commitment to quality in everything we do.”
