Canada Life has announced the closure of its onshore bond and personal pension to focus investment on offshore bonds
The company has closed its onshore bond (Select Account), and personal pension plan (The Retirement Account) to new business, although it said the sales pipelines will be managed through to completion, with no changes to the available product features or benefits
Offshore bonds will remain the focus for the wealth division moving forward, with the company saying it has identified significant growth opportunities in the UK offshore bond market, and will target resource in this area moving forward.
The company has confirmed it remains committed to the UK market where it can operate at scale and be competitive, including in the areas of individual annuities, equity release, group protection, bulk purchase annuities and asset management, alongside the UK offshore bond space.
Sean Christian, MD and Executive Director for Wealth at Canada Life UK explains: “We’ve always said we will compete where we can reach scale and be competitive, and it has become clear we need to take the decision to close these products, which represent less than 1% of our customer base. While we recognise this will leave some advisers disappointed, it does mean we can focus on areas of profitable growth, where we can leverage our resource to deliver a better experience for advisers and their clients, including our market-leading UK offshore bond range, via our businesses in the Isle of Man and Ireland.”
“We see significant potential to grow our market share in the offshore space via UK advisers, where we think the market is presently underserved. This is being driven by growing demand for clients to consider broader planning opportunities, given the UK’s high tax burden and ever-changing legislative environment. We look forward to working with a wider range of advisers to show the value of our range of investment, trust, and estate planning solutions.”
Main image: jonathan-bean-Vv3OPPXrcQM-unsplash
