The Prudential, the second largest life insurance provider in the UK, has seen the Peoples Bank of China take a one percent stake in the company, worth GBP130 million.
The move puts the Chinese bank into the top 25 of institutional investors in the Prudential, though there is no feeling that the holding is leading up to a takeover bid. The Chinese bank invests in many different businesses and a one percent holding is not uncommon. Speculation came because of the Prudential developing the Asian market though the management at the insurer welcomes the investment.
Such is the activity of the Prudential in Asia that their growth for the first half of the year was 14 percent, a remarkable step forwards.
A new mortgage and lifestyle protection package has been announced by Liverpool Victoria, designed to provide peace of mind for customers who suffer sickness or unemployment.
The package is quite comprehensive in what it offers, with the option of regular mortgage payment coverage or an index linked sum that will replace more living expenses in the event of difficulties. There is a lot of flexibility in the package too, with the facility to have cover running for different periods of time depending on the need.
A Liverpool Victoria spokesman explained that the protection package offered the flexibility customers wanted with simplicity and delivered the peace of mind that was sought.
According to a new poll by Post Office Insurance the average adult in the UK believes they are worth around GBP350,000.
Over 2,000 people were polled by Post Office Insurance to try and find out the perceptions people have about themselves and how much of a contribution they make. People were asked to add up their value, with the average amount providing the GBP350,000 figure shown above. There were regional variations of course, with London way ahead of anywhere else at GBP500,000 while the East Midlands came in bottom, averaging GBP300,000.
Interestingly, having realised how much was at stake, nearly 40 percent of respondents felt that it was important for them to take out life insurance. A Post Office Insurance spokesman was very pleased to see this response and hoped that they would indeed get their lives protected since the financial consequences of not doing were clearly considerable.
