International sales for the group (excluding Lombard) rose to £195m in the year to 30 Sept, from £176m in the equivalent period of 2010. Its North Asian business, which is serviced from Hong Kong, registered a 20% increase in volumes, while sales in South Asia grew by 28%.
The firm also recorded “very strong growth” in its UK sales, according to Paul Tunnicliffe, the managing director of Friends Provident International, a member of the Friends Life group.
Conditions proved trickier in continental Europe. “There has been slightly less growth from Europe,” said Tunnicliffe. “The eurozone crisis and volatility across Europe is causing customers to hesitate a little.
“In Germany we’ve seen a move towards more traditional products, which we think is creating some pent-up demand for the future. But we’ve maintained our market share in unit-linked pension provision in Germany – so a diversified strategy has proved to be very successful.”
Lombard
Lombard, the European high and ultra-high net worth investor business of Friends Life, saw a 35% fall in sales compared with last year. However, this large decline in part reflected beneficial one-off catalysts which occurred in 2010, it said, including the Italian “scudo” tax amnesty.
“Lombard the previous year enjoyed exceptional performance, so it’s a difficult comparator,” added Tunnicliffe. “But they have gained market share so we’re pleased with the performance.”
Italy remains a significant driver of sales volumes for Lombard, while Finland, France, Spain and Asia also generated strong performance, compared with 2010.
Asset manager
Included in Friends Life’s third-quarter business update was the announcement of plans to launch an in-house asset management capability in the second half of 2012. The international business has “no plans to use that facility at the moment”, according to Tunnicliffe.
