Wesleyan’s assets under management reach a record level
SPECIALIST financial services provider Wesleyan has seen its assets under management grow to a record £6bn.
The firm returned a positive set of results for 2014 despite annuity sales being down by a third following changes to pensions rules announced by the Chancellor.
The Birmingham business, which provides for doctors, dentists, lawyers and teachers, recorded an operating profit of £40.3m, a 32% increase on 2013’s £30.5m.
New business sales amounted to £42.2m (2013: £41.6m), while total gross premium income was up by 6.4% to £316m ((2013: £297m).
But perhaps the most eye-catching figure is that assets under management now stand at a record £6bn, a 6.5% increase on 2013’s £5.6bn.
Craig Errington, Wesleyan’s chief executive, said: “We are pleased to report that 2014 was a year of growth for Wesleyan.
“Like many others in the industry we saw a change to anticipated product sales as a result of the Chancellor’s 2014 Budget. ISA premiums increased by over 60% as people sought to take advantage of the increase in the allowance.
“Sales of annuities on the other hand dropped by almost one third as people delayed purchase while waiting to learn more about the new pension regulations.
“It was pleasing to see an increase in income of 8% from our General Insurance business, while the Bank grew its commercial loan book by 16% as these were areas where we are looking for growth.
“Practice Plan, which we acquired in 2013 has also performed above expectation since joining the Group and was 10% ahead of its profit target at year end.
“Clearly we are in business to serve our customers and we were particularly pleased to see an increase in our net promoter score to +59. This represents the likelihood of people to recommend Wesleyan and it is higher than that of many others in our industry.
“2014 was a challenging year as we began laying the foundations for our growth activity. We made a huge investment in our infrastructure and introduced three new IT systems that will result in improved customer service and deliver cost savings in the long term.”
