Fidelity Life boosts profit

Fidelity Life is reporting a record year.

Friday, October 14th 2016, 9:42AM

by Susan Edmunds

Ian Braddock

The insurance company has announced total comprehensive income of $34.5 million in the 2016 financial year, up 37% on the year before.

After adjustment for the gain on the sale of the Fidelity Super-Super Plan, Number 3, the underlying profit before shareholder tax of $33.4 million represents an 11% improvement on the last year and a record year for the company.

Chairman Ian Braddock said that sale continued Fidelity's transition to focusing on life and related insurance business, and away from savings products.

Premium income increased by 11% to $222.7 million. The group risk book increased by 40% while retail risk increased 15%.

Fidelity Life said that was due to both new business and retention efforts. The company is now ranked third for total market share with 10.7% of in-force premium.

“As well as striving for growth in new business we maintained our focus on keeping as many policies as possible on our books, and once again, the rate of cancellations fell. Improved retention remains a focus in the year ahead," Braddock said.

During the year the company embarked on a three-year project which will deliver major change to the company’s policy administration system.

“The upgrade is the single biggest investment made in the history of Fidelity Life and will bring a positive impact across the business. It will enable greater innovation in our product offering and most importantly, it future proofs the company for many more years to come.”

A number of senior appointments placed the company in a strong position, Braddock said.

“In July of this year we were thrilled to announce the appointment of Nadine Tereora to the role of CEO. Nadine’s appointment, combined with the recent board appointments of internationally experienced CEO and marketing director Alan Gourdie, and financial industry specialist Simon Botherway, further strengthens the leadership of the organisation as we move into this next phase of growth. These are exciting times for Fidelity Life and we are now well placed to embrace future growth opportunities with optimism and confidence.”

Tags: Fidelity Life