| February 2000
The
association of friendly societies
UK
PRESS
"SPECIAL
CELEBRATION BONUS AT ROYAL LIVER
"
Royal
Liver Assurance, one of the country’s leading Friendly
Societies, has announced as part of its 1999
Bonus Declaration, a special bonus in celebration of its 150th
Anniversary which will be paid to all
with-profits policyholders.
Like
many other financial services providers, Royal Liver has restructured
its reversionary bonus rates this year to
reflect difficult market conditions with interest rates at their lowest
levels for many years.
Brian
McCaul, Royal Liver’s Chief Executive, commented
“We are extremely pleased to be able
to reward policyholders with this special 150th Anniversary Bonus, in
addition to increasing or maintaining our
terminal bonus rates. As a Friendly Society, we work for our
members, not shareholders, and this announcement reinforces our
commitment to offer them good value for money
and a fuller future”.
With
many organisations cutting overall payouts significantly, this is a
major achievement for the Society. The 150th
Anniversary Bonus will effectively mean that the overall rates
declared to policyholders will remain the same as last year.
As
a result of the 1999 declaration, the Society’s Ordinary
Branch endowment plans will enjoy a
reversionary bonus of £30 per £1000 sum assured for
non-compound bonus policies and 2.5% for
compound versions. The 150th Anniversary Bonus will add £15
and 1% respectively to these values, bringing
the totals to £45 and 3.5%.
The
Society launched a highly flexible new-style personal pension plan
towards the end of 1998 and with-profits plan
holders will benefit from an annualised bonus value of 4% plus
1% ‘Anniversary’ rate, bringing the total to 5%.
In
practical terms, a typical 15 year endowment policy taken out on 1
January 1985, by a 30 year old male paying
£60 per month, will mature this year with a value of
£27,925. This equates to a
substantial growth of 158% on the total contributions
(£10,800) with all taxes paid.
Compared with a typical building society return of £15,033*
the Royal Liver plan clearly offers excellent
value for money.
Commenting
on the special bonus and other developments at Royal Liver, Brian
McCaul said “This is an exciting
time for the Society which is successfully blending 150 years of
experience and tradition with major new initiatives
and a determination to ensure continued
success in the 21st Century.”
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