COMPANY MEETINGS
EQUITY AND LAW LIFE ASSURANCE SOCIETY
ANOTHER RECORD ESTABLISHED Tan annual general meeting of the Equity and Law Life Assurance Society was held on March 22nd at 20 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C.
The Rt. Hon. Sir Dennis Herbert, K.B.E., M.P. (the Chairman), in the course of his speech, said : Notwithstanding the large increase every year for many years past, our total new life business, both gross and net, again shows an increase, and establishes a new record ; the gross figure is £5,582,113, against £5,144,660, and the net £4,667,681, against £4,658,909. The new sinking fund business is lower than the exceptionally high figure of the preceding year, but is higher than in any year other than 1936, and more than ihree times as much as in any of the four years before 1936.
Claims by death were well within the expectation under the latest mortality tables, and resulted in a substantial profit. Our total net funds at the end of the year were £28,n7,742, against £24,935,078 at the end of the previous year, an increase of £3482,666. I now come to the triennial report. Our last quinquennial report and valuation was made as at the end of 1934, and we then decided to work on three-year instead of five-year valuations, so that we have now to deal with the three-year period ended on December 31st last. The surplus disclosed is £1,266,803, which, allowing for the fact that it arises from three years' business instead of five, is pro- portionately larger than any previous surplus. It enables us to distribute to our policyholders £835,381 in bonuses at the same high rates as the end of our last quinquennium, and after crediting the proprietors' fund with its one-tenth of the divisible surplus to carry forward as a reserve an increased sum of £332,522, against £312,682. This satisfactory result should tend to attract' more people to take out policies with us.
These results of our first triennial valuation are, I think, very satisfactory—especially when our Stock Vxchange investments had to be valued as on December 31st, 1937, a date on which quoted market values had fallen heavily. We were necessarily faced with a large depreciation in the value of these investments, but thanks to the cautious and conservative methods adopted, and to our having set aside the profits on realisation of investments, we have been able to show these satisfactory results after fully meeting the depreciation and writing down our Stock Exchange investments to within their mean market value, while still keeping intact our £ t00,000 invest- ment reserve. Our balance-sheet shows a thoroughly sound position.
The report was adopted.
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