SCOTTISH Friendly, Scotland’s largest financial services mutual, said it continued to seek merger and acquisition opportunities as it reported record sales of £25.5 million in 2015.
The company, which is headquartered in Glasgow with 100 staff, said white label sales to other providers and its customer-friendly online ISA platform had helped to fuel the 18 per cent increase in sales from £21.6m in 2014.
“All in all 2015 was a landmark year for Scottish Friendly,” said chief executive Fiona McBain. “Not only did we achieve record sales, the highlight of the year was the completion of the takeover of Marine & General Mutual which more than doubled our assets under management. In line with our agreed strategy, we will carry on seeking out opportunities that will benefit our members and our partners and continue offering quality products and services.”
Ms McBain said the takeover of Worthing-based Marine & General Mutual, which took assets to £2 billion when it completed on 1 June 2015, was “hugely significant and quite complicated”, but that Scottish Friendly had had long time to manage it. She added that the company was almost constantly talking to potential partners, but the pool of potential takeover opportunities was dwindling.
Scottish Friendly said sales of protection products – which it white labels for brands including Beagle Street, Smart Insurance and British Seniors Insurance Agency – jumped 20%. Investment sales including ISAs grew 14 per cent.
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