Zurich sees hike in new business
The company — which formerly traded here as Eagle Star — said that within that increase, the value of new pension sales increased by 10% to €86.6m (up from a value of €78.9m for the first six months of 2009).
That pension performance was marginally ahead of the Irish pensions market in the first half of the year, which grew by 9%. It also means that Zurich Ireland’s share of the pensions market here has risen by 3% to 18% — since the end of last year.
“We continue to outperform the market average for life and pensions business,” commented Anthony Brennan, Zurich Life Ireland chief executive.
He added: “The foundations of this success are high quality products, a solid investment track record and, crucially, that we provide the leading support and service to independent brokers and customers. We also offer our customers the peace of mind that they’re with a company that has one of the highest ratings for financial strength in the Irish market.
“Our reputation for providing the leading pensions service, quality products and the best online facilities for all classes of employees has been at the forefront of our success in the pensions market,” added the company’s pensions director, Brendan Johnston.
In the area of life assurance, Zurich saw new business grow by 23% in the first half, to a value of €20m. This increase was again ahead of the overall growth in the Irish market and ups Zurich’s share of the Irish life market to 13%, compared to 12% at the end of 2009. The company’s total share of the Irish financial services market is up to 17% — 2% more than was the case at the end of last year.
