Hard sell to target middle income market

Market entrants

Primerica, part of US banking giant Citigroup, is looking to tap the middle income market that advisers are ignoring. But by offering huge rewards to those willing to buy into the system, it has drawn criticism from consumer groups

Banking giant Citigroup is aiming to gain a foothold in the UK financial services market by targeting the bulk of the population ignored by advisers. Namely, middle income families who are not profitable for IFAs to sell to. Primerica, a successful part of the Citigroup business, has set up a UK subsidiary called Citi Solutions. Primerica operates a tiered commission system that means those higher up in the company receive a higher level of commission every time agents in their team make a sale. It uses agents incentivised to cold call and recruit more agents. In the UK, the company has ...