1 February 2021

Foresters Friendly Society sees continued levels of single premium growth in 2020 and more accolades

As the Coronavirus pandemic continued to cause concern and unease amongst the UK and worldwide population, Foresters Friendly Society saw an increase in single premium investments in 2020.  This was both in the form of top ups to existing plans by members and also plans taken out by new members.

Single premium income increased by 7% (compared to 2019), with the Society’s Digital and Member Development channels delivering single premium income growth of 21% and 22% respectively, and the mutual society’s range of stocks & shares ISAs, including the Junior and Lifetime ISAs, leading the way. All plans invest in Foresters’ consistently performing With-Profits fund which, over the past 5 years, has outperformed the FTSE 100 index with significantly less volatility in returns (23.4% vs. FTSE 100 performance of -6.4%).

During the financial crisis of 2008/2009, many mutuals delivered record sales volumes. People saw mutuals and friendly societies as a safe pair of hands, and those customers for whom with-profits savings were appropriate valued the product’s ability to smooth out the peaks and troughs of the market.  It would appear that the pandemic of 2020 has created a similar pattern.

As in 2019, Foresters has continued to enhance its offering to members and prospects.

  • In a step to demonstrate the Society’s commitment to responsible investment, in September 2020 Foresters became a signatory to the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).  Foresters takes this responsible approach into our investments ensuring we act in a socially conscious way, not only towards our own members, but also towards the society at large, by ensuring a strict scrutiny on the companies in which we invest. Signing up to the PRI confirms Foresters belief in those principles.
  • In November 2020, Foresters #smallsavers marketing campaign received a Gold award at the 2020 MarCom Awards which honour excellence in Marketing and Communication.  The campaign’s response was phenomenal and helped many families come together through lockdown to talk about the importance of saving for the future. 
  • Also in November 2020, Foresters was proud to be shortlisted for the ‘Insurance Company of the Year’ and the ‘Investment Strategy of the Year’ Insurance Asset Management awards 2020.

But that’s not all.  At the very heart of everything Foresters Friendly Society does is its members.  Recognising that 2020 may have impacted some members in a less positive way, Foresters adapted its Foresters Support Fund grants to cover claims for hardship caused by the Coronavirus.  

During 2020, we paid out over £75K to members in the form of grants to support those experiencing hardship caused by the pandemic and these do not require paying back. Our members who received grants provided feedback about how this financial assistance helped to remove some of the stress they were feeling and reaffirmed how Foresters continues to make a difference to their lives.

Foresters has a long and strong track record of giving back to our members in this way, through our member benefits package, and we are proud to have paid £1.6million to members in discretionary grants in 2019 alone. Early indications are that the generosity of our branches has continued in 2020 and that this figure will be surpassed.

Rachel Webb, Chief Executive of Foresters Friendly Society commented “2020 has certainly been a challenging year for most.  Foresters started the year having to move the majority of our staff to work from home whilst ensuring that we continued to provide a first class service to members, intermediaries and prospects.  Once this change had quickly embedded itself, it was very much business as usual for our team and I am proud of the results we have achieved despite an uncertain backdrop for most of the year. The single premium income growth and our award wins and accolades demonstrate how hard we work to continuously enhance and reinforce our member offering. 

Being able to support members during this period of turbulence is what Foresters is all about – we put our members at the heart of all we do.  People often turn to mutual organisations during turbulent times and we are delighted they continue to place their trust in Foresters”.  

Notes

Should members wish to claim for covid-19 financial assistance, please use this form. Our team are working hard to respond to requests in a short amount of time.

FTSE100 and the Order Insurance with-profits Fund comparison based over the period of 2015 Q4 to 2020 Q1.  Past performance is no guide to future performance and the addition of bonuses is not guaranteed.

You could get back less than you pay in to the Society’s range of ISAs.

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