BRITANNIC ASSURANCE POLICY
Hopes of sustained market recovery are based largely on the thesis that very substantial funds were withheld from in- vestment during the recession, and may be invested as con- fidence grows. The speech which Mr. J. A. Jefferson delivered to the members of the Britannic Assurance Company last week supports that view, for he showed that after a year in which the company had achieved a record increase in its Holdings of Indian and Colonial stocks were increased by £2oo,000 last year, but the bulk of the money was placed in stocks redeemable within a few years; holdings of ordinary shares have bum increased by £531,000, but there have been no further investments in British funds. On the other hand, mortgages within the United Kingdom have been increased by £337,000, short-term loans to local authorities by £42o,000, and cash has risen by £328,000. It follows from Mr. Jeffer- son's analysis that the company has built up very large liquid and semi-liquid funds which could in more favourable circum- stances be invested more permanently.
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