Ten ways to thrive as an international life company
By Mark Battersby, 3 Nov 15
In the latest in a series of viewpoints from prominent life industry figures, Sean Christian, executive director – offshore of Canada Life International, sets out what it takes to thrive as an international life office.
From time to time the offshore bond markets go through periods of intense pricing pressure. The UK market has witnessed this over the last couple of years as new entrants aim to secure market share using price as their differentiator. In highly competitive markets history has shown that few companies succeed on price alone. The UK market has seen providers come and go over the years, starting out with the intention of capturing market share using heavily discounted pricing, to later pull out of the market once the reality dawns that the pricing strategy is not sustainable.
For a long time now, in excess of 65% of all offshore bonds sold in the UK have gone to the top three leading providers. The success of these companies goes beyond the pricing of their products, with advisers and their clients increasingly looking beyond headline grabbing “special offers”. Rather, they seek evidence of value for money and look for the assurance that a product provider is making a sufficient return to enable it to be around for the long term. Product providers that offer additional services and support are more likely to build long term and trusted relationships – in turn the market is more likely to be willing to pay a price premium for this added value.
Tags: Canada Life | Sean Christian
