In the 2012 results period, FPI stopped accepting business from Japanese nationals, closed its corporate pensions business and some product lines in the European business, as part of its strategic review.
It also sold its 30% stake in the Malaysian joint venture AmLife on 4 January this year and will cease doing new regular premium pensions business in Germany.
Instead, FPI will focus on two core markets: the global expat community, and domestic affluent customers in its chosen key markets of Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai, Friends Life International chief executive John Van Der Weilen said.
He added that in the case of AmLife, it “needed more investment that we could supply” and that the strategy will continue to involve withdrawing from markets that are unprofitable, sub-scale or which do not fit with its new risk and value-focused strategy.
Van Der Weilen described FPI as “one of the more disciplined players in the market” and that the focus is not on headline sales figures but underlying profitability. “I get excited about return on equity”, he said.
The other business in the international division, Lombard, saw new business APE up 7% over the year to £254m, with an increasing focus on private bank distribution in Europe and exploring opportunities for targeted expansion in high net worth markets in Asia.
Lombard also paid its first ever dividend to the group of £4m in November 2012.
International funds under management were £25.6bn, compared to £23.6bn in 2011, reflecting net inflows of £1.3bn as well as “positive market movements in the year”, the company stated.
See International Adviser‘s life trends profile on Friends Life International for more details of the company’s strategy.
