Friends Prov cuts final bonus rates on with-profits policies

Friends Provident has cut final bonus rates across most of its with-profits policies to reflect losse...

Friends Provident has cut final bonus rates across most of its with-profits policies to reflect losses over the first half over the year. The gross investment return on the group’s with-profits fund was -7.5% over the first six months of 2008, meaning final payments are lower compared to January. Regular bonuses largely remain unchanged. Chief actuary Brian Harrison said: “Bonus rates announced in January of this year reflected investment returns over the whole term of the contract. To maintain payouts at January levels we needed annualised returns of around 8% on longer-term policies. ...