8 July 2019
Foresters Friendly Society announced winner of ‘Best Small Insurer’ at the Insurance Investment Exchange Awards 2019
Foresters Friendly Society has been named Best Small Insurer at the Insurance Investment Exchange awards. Foresters were recognised for their work in delivering real value through their investment portfolios and minimising volatility in an increasingly complex environment. Embracing innovative strategies and internal talent has helped Foresters to be recognised for this award.
Foresters Friendly Society is a mutual insurer providing a range of financial savings, investment and insurance products, as well as a range of member benefits, including discretionary educational grants and healthcare support. It has £270 million of assets under management.
During 2018, Foresters’ investment strategy and investment team were overhauled, with the aim of enhancing investment performance, diversifying investment holdings, reducing volatility and efficiently managing solvency capital requirements.
In June 2019, Foresters began a partnership with Axa Investment Managers (Axa IM) which manages €730 billion (£650 billion) globally. This partnership has allowed the addition of several new assets classes in the alternatives space. This has helped to give Foresters a unique competitive advantage over similar providers to improve the marketability of its products to new members as well as the returns that can be achieved for existing members.
To support its enhanced investment strategy further, Foresters Friendly Society has also invested in its internal resourcing and created an in-house investment team to deliver insightful management information and provide more oversight to its external investment managers.
In addition to this, in the Barnett Waddingham 2017 annual with profits survey undertaken on 52 funds, the Foresters Order Insurance with profits fund:
- Rated the best performing fund in the small fund category.
- Rated in the top quartile across all fund sizes.
- Provided higher returns over the 5 year period than the average return from the largest with profits funds.
(Source: The Barnett Waddingham survey, December 2017.)
Rachel Webb, Finance Director at Foresters Friendly Society, comments “As a small insurer, we face the same challenges as larger organisations but with fewer resources so it is a real testament to the team that we have been recognised for the hard work and dedication on our investment strategy over in the last 18 months.
Working in partnership with Axa IM, a provider with solid credentials in the insurance sector, a robust performance track record and global capabilities across the wider investment universe, this places Foresters in a unique positioning against our peer group which will benefit our members and future members.”