30 MARCH 1934, Page 35

The bonuses arising out of the quinquennium are again on

most generous scale, but it is not surprising that as regards the future the Chairman should have uttered a word of

(Continued on page 524.) Financial Notes (Continued from page 523.) warning. We have left behind us a period of high interest rates, a circumstance which has been largely responsible for a great increase in the bonus rates of all offices. It is rash, said the Chairman, " to prophesy, but if as some high authorities predict, we have now entered on a period of lower interest rates, it is obvious that bonuses must also fall, and sooner or later drop to their pre-War level or even lower if the burden of Income Tax should not be lightened." "But," he added, " whatever change may take place is bonus rates the Institution's position under its distinctive system for whole life assurances will be a strong one, since it offers in its low premiums the immediate advantage of the largest possible cover for a given outlay, without sacrifice of the right to such ultimate additions as those premiums may earn."