
By Alex C
Old Mutual, an Anglo-South African financial group has posted a 24 percent rise in gross sales of its products ranging from investment funds to insurance in Africa.
The company, a member of Britain’s FTSE 100 index, said that gross sales in the first quarters reached £6.2 billion, helping funds under management to expand 2 percent on a constant currency basis to £297.7 billion.
In a statement, the company disclosed that it is well placed to benefit from recent changes in United Kingdom’s pensions which will remove the need for any retires to buy an annuity from insures. This is expected to allow them for more flexibility in how to invest their money.
“We expect to be a net beneficiary from the radical changes to the UK pensions system. We have no exposure to annuities but are a leading provider of pension income drawdown. We are making good progress towards our ambition to become Africa’s financial services champion. Sales in Africa were up 27 percent excluding south Africa. The group has signed new bank distribution agreements in Nigeria and Ghana,” Julian Roberts, chief executive, Old Mutual disclosed.
A peep into the company financials show that sales in emerging markets were up to 18 percent on a constant currency basis at £1.9 billion, influenced by strong retail sales.
Old Mutual, founded in Cape Town in 1845, plans to increase the share of profits generated by its African business to 15 percent by the end of 2015. The group has reiterated its intent to list a minority stake in its asset management business in the United States which suffered cash outflows of $3.6 billion in the quarter, a performance analysts say was disappointing.
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