Wesleyan breaks records in ‘great year’ for mutual

Financial services mutual Wesleyan delivered strong growth in 2017 as it made “further progress” in its transformation programme.

Assets under management grew 7% to a record high of £7.6bn, while income increased much faster – up 20% to £388m.

“2017 was a great year for the Wesleyan Group as we successfully delivered against all of our key financial performance measures,” said group chief executive Craig Errington.

“We made further progress in our ambitious transformation programme while maintaining our financial strength. This is good news for our members and policyholders who continued to enjoy strong investment returns and competitive payouts.”

Wesleyan invested heavily in its ongoing large-scale transformation project, which includes new customer relationship management and point of sale systems. When fully operational, these systems will transform how it delivers its products and services.

The mutual, which specialises in professionals including doctors, dentists, lawyers and teachers, was founded in Birmingham in 1841 and remains headquartered in the city centre.

Wesleyan’s chairman Nathan Moss believes the mutual status provides it with “a competitive advantage” in its markets, and is confident there is further growth ahead.

He said: “We have ambitious plans for the future, building on our 176-year history while unleashing all of the potential Wesleyan has to offer. This is an exciting time of growth and opportunity and we thank our customers for their ongoing trust in us and our staff for their commitment and dedication.”