NATIONAL MUTUAL LIFE

Otaki Mail, 11 April 1923, Page 3

NATIONAL MUTUAL LIFE

* SEVENTEENTII ACT URIAL INVESTIGATION. An extraordinary'general meeting of (lolicy holders in the Mutual

Life Association of Australasia, Ltd., was held at Melbourne .011 :21st March, tor the purpose of receiving the report

I'V the actuary «u the seventeenth investigation. The report covered the three years’ period to doth t-h'ptoinlier last. The chairman, Air A. A'eweli. in senting the report to policyholders, d:—“The chairman or these mceis has always had a pleasant duty to

, -jrforin in pres cut ing the report of the association’s business. Almost invari-

ably it has been a record uf pi ogress and development: sometimes the rare iof progress has been ehecketl by conditions which were beyond our control, but wo have never gone back. The reIporl which I will presently ask you to adopt shows that during the last: three years we hate surpassed all past records. At our annual meeting we have had particulars uf each year’s transactions. but the significance and result of those transactions could not be known accurately until the value of the association’s obligations under the policies that have been issued was ascertained. \Ve have now before us the results of the valuation as at doth September last, and a summary of the whole of the business since the valuation which was made at doth September, J 010. With your permission, I will comment briefly on the principal items in the report. Our income during the three years amounted to £7,552,7(15. of which £5,280.523 was for premiums on policies. and £2,203.2-15 was for hit crest and fees. The total was £1,77-1,-IS" greater than the income of the previous period. The interest is equal to a return of £5 5s 7d per cent, per annum of our total funds during the period, anil this

rate, calculated on the amount of the assurance fund -at JOtli September. .1022, represents an annual income' of more ’liaii £205.000 in excess of the amount which it was assumed in the valuation the funds will yield. The amount ot interest received, you will notice, is

nearly twice as much as the amount that was required to pay claims under policies. The payments lo members tinder their policies amounted to £2,713.■ll3, or £73.11S less than tin- amount paid from 1916-19. and the amount added to the assurance fund was £1,993.-

2110. which is £1,660,191 more than litcorresponding item shown in the 19H report. The income of the three yca.ris equal to the total income of the as fOciation during the first 2s years ot it; history, and the amount added to tin funds is equal to the accumulation.- ot

fhe first 35 years. The new policies it -ued during the period amounted 1 C 17.012.335. This i- £3,55d.i:00 nun

than we have issued in any -imilar period. The amount spent in obtaining ihis business represent.- molt than iin.il .if the total expense-. Tills is mvin . o .‘he method which is generally adopk d of paying the whole cost of neve bp Lness during the lir-1 year of a policy. It has often been asked how much new business can a life office transact with advantage to its members. No definite answer can be given to this question, but it is certain that a proportion of new business carefully selected and obtained at a reasonable eo.-i is essential to maintaining the healthy comb

Hon of tin offieT. MORTA LITY E.Y PERIEXCI:

“There is a reiciencc m the to'iua ry's report to the mortality experi euce uf the three y ears to which I v. mil', call your special attention. Alter five

years of war and pestilence we have ,uid thiee years free Hum any disturb-

ing influence, and the result is shown m the amount of claims on our Consolidated Revenue account. from an amount that was uneoiui'orlid’ly close to t-he expectation in 1919 "e have dropped to an amount that is •->5 jar cent, below, so that with a much larger amount at risk the claims are £129.05-5 less than they were three years ago. “The law of mortality works very surely, and although we may have fluctuations from year to year, and under exceptional conditions, as we have seen the fluctuations may bo serious, in the long run the law will prevail. A Ye. therefore, cannot hope for a continuance of the remarkably favourable experience of the last three years, The result of our operations is given in a condensed form ou page fifteen of the report. The valuation balance-sheet shows that while the assurance fund at 30th September, 1922. amounted to £16,557,659, the net value of the liabilities ;at that date was £11,552.169, so that

tlie re -was u surplus of £1.705.498. ihi? | may be stated in another may. Puma the three years the assurance fund had j been increased by £4.063,-90 and j the liability has. during the same period, increased by £9.357.791. The Actuary recommends that £9-50,000 of this surplus should be reserved for what is called, for want of a better form. • suspended mortality. ’ The reason for tins is obvious from what I have said about our recent experience, and the directors had no hesitation in adopting the recommendation. The amount to bo divided amongst the policy-holder —£!.- 455,498 —is £666,011 more than the amount that was divided three yearago. and it is surlicient to provide reversionary bonus or additions to the. sums assured under policies of over £9,500,000. “We cannot claim that thi« very satisfactory position is the result of the last three years-' work. We arcreaping the result of the conservative policy that ha- been followed in the management of the- affair- of the association for manv years, “A per us a or rue report and schedules will enable member? to appreciate the -matters that I have touched very lightly; any elaboration of them on this occasion would be out of place, But there is a significant fact disclosed by the information cwt page nineteen.

You will see that tilt- total of the p>remiums received on policies that are now in force is less than the amount of the assurance fund; in other words, we have now in hand more than the total premiums that have been paid by the present policyholders. Since the association was established we have paid to policyholders £l-1.1)119,33.3.

PURCHASE OF EQUITABLE LIFE Ays FRANCE ÜBIETY OF THE UNITED STATES.

“This is the first opportunity of informing the members direct of the completion of an important transaction by the unsocial ion. Since our last annual meeting we haw: arranged to reinsure the whole of the Australasian business of the Equitable Life Assurance SoI ciefy of the United Slates. AnnouneeI meats have appeared in the press which , contain all the important facts, and I ' can only add that the Iran-action is a ' satisfactory one for the members of the association. I “The bonus certificates showing the reversionary bonus additions to their policies will be issued to members on Thursday, this w eek. BONUSES TO BE ALLOTTED ANNUALLY IN FUTURE.

11 Hitherto tlie association has issued bonus certificates only at the end of each triennial period; it is intended henceforth to issue to members after the close of each year of a triennium certificates showing the intermediate bonuses allotted to policies for the year. ’ ’ The report was adopted.