Zurich Ireland sales dip 12%

THE Irish life assurance arm of international financial services group, Zurich — that was up until recently Eagle Star Life — has reported a 12% like-for-like decline in new business sales for the first half of the year to €92.4 million.

The company called the performance “impressive in a challenging market”. Total life sales across the market, as a whole, fell by 30% during the first six months of the year, compared to the same period last year.

Elsewhere, the half-year performance was strong, with Zurich Ireland reporting an 11% year-on-year rise in new business for annual premium pensions to €47.4m and a flat figure of around €250m for single premium pension sales against an overall market decline of 41%. PRSA (personal retirement savings accounts) business at the company rose by 14% over the period, increasing the firm’s market share in Ireland in this area to 28%. This area fell by 6% on a market-wide basis for the first half of the year, compared to the first six months of last year.

“Pensions customers rightly take a longer term view of equities at times like these. Zurich’s ability to offer its customers excellent long-term investment returns through well-designed pension products, such as Eagle Star PRSAs is a vital factor when independent brokers recommend our products to customers,” according to the company’s pensions director, Brendan Johnston.

Zurich Ireland chief executive Michael Brennan, said: “We have significantly outperformed our competitors in the first half of 2008 in an increasingly difficult economic and market environment. Our strength in pensions, and our top three position in the broker market, have helped to produce substantial growth in our market share.”