Sovereign strengthens its position as industry leader

16 November 2011

Sovereign strengthens its position as industry leader

Sovereign has strengthened its leadership of the New Zealand life insurance industry, according to new figures released by the Investment Savings and Insurance Association (ISI).

Sovereign increased its new business in the quarter ended 30 Sept by 24 per cent compared with the same quarter last year, contributing to a 6.3 per cent increase in new business market share to 26.2 per cent. The result has helped Sovereign to retain its industry leading inforce market share of premiums, now 30.2 per cent.

“We believe these figures represent a vote of confidence in the proactive way we’ve responded to the challenges the insurance industry is facing,” says Sovereign CEO Charles Anderson. “The results bode well for the continuing strength of Sovereign, the confidence of our advisers and the secure future of our customers.”

To put Sovereign’s result into perspective, the ISI quarterly report on market share reveals that the overall new business for ISI members shrank by 5.5 per cent in the September quarter, compared with the same period in 2010. That decline would be 12.9 per cent if Sovereign’s significant growth was removed from the calculation.

“This time last year there was a great deal of uncertainty throughout the industry as advisers faced the daunting prospect of a changing tax and regulatory environment,” says Anderson.

“Sovereign made a commitment to give its advisers practical support and training to help them meet the new requirements, settling the standard for the industry. We encouraged and supported advisers to take time out to up-skill. The ISI figures underscore the feedback we’ve been getting from our advisers that our help and their hard work have given them confidence in a robust future.

“We firmly believe the insurance industry will come through this regulatory evolution stronger than ever. Sovereign and its advisers have worked hard to ensure we consolidate our leading market position through and beyond these changes, and I believe these results reflect the success of those efforts.”

About Sovereign

Sovereign Assurance Company Limited (Sovereign) is New Zealand’s largest life insurer; protecting the lives of more than 600,000 people through the provision of personal insurances (such as life, income protection, disablement and trauma and major medical health policies) and employer sponsored compulsory and voluntary workplace schemes.

Sovereign’s financial strength is rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best . Sovereign is part of the ASB group of companies, which is in turn part of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia group.

ENDS

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