Scottish Friendly more than doubles funds under management to £2.7 billion

• Scotland’s largest mutual announces 147 per cent rise in its funds under management,
• Total sales rose 18 per cent in 2015 to a record £25.5 million

 
Scottish Friendly, the Glasgow-based financial services group and Scotland’s largest mutual, has today revealed that its funds under management have more than doubled, from £1,078m in 2014 to £2,660m in 2015, a rise of 147 per cent.
 
At its Annual General Meeting (AGM) today, Scottish Friendly announced that the increase came on top of an 18 per cent rise in total sales from £21.6m in 2014 to a record £25.5m in 2015. Sales are based on the industry standard measure of regular premiums plus one tenth of single premiums.
 
The significant increase in funds was driven in part by the landmark takeover of Marine & General Mutual (M&GM) in June 2015. The takeover was a major coup for Scottish Friendly, bringing opportunities for significant economies of scale for all policyholders, including those that transferred from M&GM.
 
The addition of almost 30,000 new members from M&GM as well as new business levels drove Scottish Friendly’s membership up by over 70,000 to a total of 490,000.
 
Fiona McBain, Chief Executive of Scottish Friendly, said: “We have had a very strong year and are delighted to report that we have seen funds under management more than double to £2.7bn. The June 2015 transfer of M&GM to Scottish Friendly was a major factor in driving these numbers up and will bring significant economies of scale.  2015 was also notable for record sales, in part due to Scottish Friendly’s substantial set of corporate partnerships with the likes of Beagle Street and Smart Insurance.
 
McBain concludes: “We are confident that we are in an excellent position to keep growing and to rise to future challenges.  The foundations are in place for long-term success and we will continue to seek out opportunities for further growth.”