AIB's life assurance and pensions company, Ark Life, today announced new business results for 2002 which showed a marked decline in comparison with 2001 as SSIAs hit new savings with the firm.
New regular premium business amounted to €131.6m, a 12% fall on 2001. New regular pensions were €28.3m, a 9% decline from 2001; single premium investments were €476m, an 11% decline on 2001. Combining these figures Ark Life's APE performance was 11% lower than in 2001. Ark Life's core protection business saw a 37% increase in new business.
Ark Life managing director Billy Finn said: '2002 was a challenging year for life assurers. The beginning of the year was dominated by the close of the SSIA campaign. The SSIA factor meant that Ark Life's new savings in 2002 as a whole were down on 2001 and this was the main reason for the overall decline from 2001.'
He added: 'The third successive year of stock market falls has provided a difficult backdrop for new lump sum investments. However, Ark Life with its broad range of guaranteed and Tracker type products addresses investors' concerns in this regard and has significantly increased its market share in 2002, according to the most recently available IIF statistics.'
