29 August 2019
Foresters Friendly Society’s with-profits fund performs well above average, despite tough year for markets
Foresters’ with-profits fund is listed the top performing fund in the small and medium categories with a 5 year return of 5.39 per cent.
The sixth with-profits survey by Barnett Waddingham, the UK’s leading independent provider of actuarial, administration and consultancy services, found the average annualised fund performance over a five-year period was only 4.48 per cent.
The Barnett Waddingham research covered over £50bn of assets across 41 funds and 23 insurers for the period ending December 31, 2018.
Foresters’ Order Insurance Fund (OIF) is performing well above average throughout a five-year investment period and ranks 5th best-performing fund overall. The fund is also best in class in its medium-sized fund category – funds containing £50-£200m.
Erik Vynckier, interim CEO of Foresters Friendly Society commented “it’s great to see Foresters’ with-profits fund stand up in what have been extremely difficult conditions this year for returns. At times like this when the market is down, our with-profits policyholders have been protected from the vagaries of a volatile market. An investment return of over 5% over 5 years is an incredibly positive performance, one which we hope to see continue”.
Foresters Friendly Society was named Best Small Insurer at the Insurance Investment Exchange Awards 2019. Foresters were recognised for their work in delivering real value through their investment portfolios and minimising volatility in an increasingly complex environment.
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 us a unique competitive advantage over similar providers to improve the marketability of our products to new members as well as the returns that can be achieved for our existing members.