Zurich Life sees new business rise by 1%

ZURICH Life (Ireland) chief executive, Michael Brennan, has said that the company — formerly known as Eagle Star — is capable of growing further this year after seeing both market share and new business levels rise strongly during 2008.

The Blackrock, Co Dublin-headquartered Irish arm of the international financial services group, yesterday reported a 1% increase in annual new business levels to €218.5 million. This compared to a 30% fall in the total market.

Overall market share at Zurich’s Irish operations — across the life assurance and pensions sectors — was up by 34%, last year, reaching 12.6%. The business had a market share of 9.7% in 2007.