Bank of Ireland Life reports growth in sales

Bank of Ireland Life have today announced an increase of 26% in overall new business sales for 2006.

The news places Bank of Ireland Life ahead of the market, which grew by 21% for the same period.

This represents an overall market share of around 26% for its life and pensions business.

Brian Forrester, Managing Director, Bank of Ireland Life said: "2006 has been another very strong year for us, and in particular for our lump sum investment business where we have seen huge growth in the market and our business has surpassed this growth.

"The Irish investor has been steadily increasing in sophistication over recent years and is demanding a wider range of high quality investment opportunities. We believe that this segment of the market will continue to grow strongly over the next year, with demand for innovative solutions to meet investor needs.”

"The significant growth of our regular savings business is testament to our nation’s high savings ratio of around 10%, one of the best in Europe and double that of the UK.

"While we expect this to ease somewhat after the end of the SSIA scheme, our experience shows that about two-thirds of deposit and equity accounts will continue to save post maturity."