AFM member key statistics for 2013
Each year we collect data from members, in order to provide an overview of the
sector in the previous 12 months.
From the start of the financial crisis AFM members have enjoyed years of
successful growth. There are a number of reasons for this:



There is evidence that the poor behaviour of the banks has encouraged
consumers to invest with more trusted providers such as mutuals;
There has been renewed interest in products that minimise downside
risks, such as with-profits;
Some plc insurers have been more cautious on product pricing, as a result
of expectations of higher capital requirements due to Solvency 2, and in
response to the Retail Distribution Review.
The challenge for the mutual sector is therefore to move from being a safe pair of
hands in the downturn, to dynamic and innovative challengers as the economy
strengthens. The sector data for 2013 shows there has been mixed success in
this.
Summary data for AFM members, for 31 December 2013, with 2012 figures in
brackets:
Total assets under management
£121.1 billion (£94.7 billion)
Gross premiums written
£10.1 billion (£10.3 billion)
Policies in force
21 million (21 million)
Membership
8.1 million (8 million)
Assets held by AFM members rose by 28% in 2013, and now exceed £100 billion
for the first time. The majority of this increase reflects the acquisition by Royal
London of the Co-operative’s life business.
The sale of its non-profits book by Marine and General had a more modest effect
on assets, though from July NFU Mutual is no longer a member of AFM, so
membership assets now stand at £107 billion. Taking these movements into
account, organic growth in the sector ignoring this transaction was a more
modest 5%.
assets (£bn)
110
100
90
80
70
60
50
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Premiums written in the year were broadly static, and this marks a stalling in the
double-digit growth of recent years. In this case, the transfer in of Coop business,
and the loss of income from Marine and General broadly cancelled each other
out, so the underlying trend is of a slightly more significant decline.
premiums (£bn)
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Some of the Child Trust Fund providers were the most significantly affected,
where income was reduced by over £100 million in the year, though others were
successful in transferring business into other lines. And returning to the earlier
point about innovation, some of the AFM members with new product issues in
2013 enjoyed high levels of premium growth.
The overall mix of business across the sector for the year was 62% life and
investments, 33% general insurance and 5% healthcare, and was broadly
unchanged from 2012.
At the time of writing there was no published industry data for comparison,
though in 2012 the market share of AFM members in 2012 was 6.4%.
The tables that follow two pages reinforce the level of concentration in the
sector, with the largest five mutuals accounting for 87% of assets and 86% of
premium income in 2013 (from 83% and 82% respectively at the end of 2012).
Whilst we would expect that trend to continue, there are however some less
familiar names in the mutuals that have grown most rapidly over the last three
years.
Largest current AFM Members at the end of 2013, by asset size (£bn)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Royal London Insurance Group
Liverpool Victoria
Equitable Life
Wesleyan Assurance Society
Marine and General
Reliance Mutual
Forester Life
Ecclesiastical
Family Investments
Scottish Friendly Assurance Society Ltd
64.12
12.40
8.01
5.62
2.53
1.74
1.69
1.46
1.17
1.00
Largest current AFM Members at the end of 2013, by premiums (£m)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Royal London Insurance Group
LV=
Ecclesiastical
Wesleyan Assurance Society
Forester Life
Family Investments
Police Mutual
Sunderland Marine Mutual Insurance Company
Benenden Healthcare Society Ltd
IPB Insurance
4,136.00
2,317.00
399.35
297.00
197.57
196.07
112.86
92.45
84.09
73.80
Largest AFM Members at the end of 2013, by membership size
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Family Investments
LV=
Royal London Insurance Group
Benenden Healthcare Society Ltd
Scottish Friendly Assurance Society Ltd
Forester Life
The Oddfellows
Engage Mutual Assurance
Reliance Mutual
Police Mutual
Members
Policyholders
1,840,000
1,139,618
562,012
405,204
404,000
320,692
275,374
246,925
206,000
184,563
1,840,000
5,500,000
4,000,000
1,000,000
1,135,000
436,095
225,374
496,752
209,000
184,563
Most rapidly growing members over last year, by change in assets
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Forester Life
Royal London Insurance Group
Kingston Unity Friendly Society
Scottish Friendly Assurance Society Ltd
Sheffield Mutual Friendly Society
Benenden Healthcare Society Ltd
Sovereign Health Care
Red Rose Friendly Society Ltd
Healthy Investment
Dentists Provident Society
assets (£M)
growth
1,688
64,124
79
1,002
68
107
55
22
90
213
171%
161%
131%
122%
119%
117%
114%
113%
112%
111%
Most rapidly growing members over last year, by change in premiums
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Compass Friendly Society Limited
Kingston Unity Friendly Society
Forester Life
Royal London Insurance Group
Benenden Healthcare Society Ltd
Engage Mutual Assurance
British Friendly Society Ltd
Health Shield Friendly Society Limited
Police Mutual
PG Mutual
premiums (£s)
growth
61,947
10,633,974
197,568,000
4,136,000,000
84,090,000
46,090,000
5,071,294
27,282,572
112,856,000
2,666,459
221%
191%
137%
118%
117%
115%
113%
109%
108%
108%
A comprehensive overview of AFM members’ financial position at the
end of 2013 is available on the AFM website, at
http://www.financialmutuals.org/advantage/key-statistics