Old Mutual life sales up 8% in Q3

Savings, investments and insurance group Old Mutual saw life sales grow by 8% in the three months to 30 September, helped by strong growth in emerging markets.

Life assurance sales on an annual premium equivalent (APE) rose to £358m, from £331m in the third quarter of 2010. APE sales in emerging markets jumped by 18% to £142m, while Nordic sales rose 20%. Wealth Management APE sales fell by 1% to £148m though, due to the curtailment of UK legacy products.

Non-covered sales, which include mutual funds, unit trust and other sales, were flat at £3.802bn.

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However, funds under management (FUM) fell by 5% over the quarter (from 30 June) to £11.61bn, due to ongoing volatility in equity markets.

"Despite very turbulent market conditions, this has been another quarter of strong operational performance by Old Mutual, with sales growth driven primarily by our Emerging Markets business," said chief executive Julian Roberts.

"This is a continuation of the same trend that we have seen over the past three years - the need for our customers to protect and grow their wealth remains unchanged despite continuing market volatility and uncertainty over macro-economic events." he said.

Shares fell 1.46% to 108.1p at 11:19.

BC