§ Mr. FrenchTo ask the President of the Board of Trade, what studies he has made of the way in which life insurance companies are distributing with-profits bonuses; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Neil HamiltonThere is a growing debate within the life insurance industry about the methodologies for assessing bonus distributions on with-profits policies.
As part of its regulatory responsibility to keep itself informed of developments in the life insurance industry, my Department has asked the Government Actuary's Department to conduct a survey of leading United Kingdom offices which write with-profits business, to obtain more detailed information about companies' bonus philosophies and the actuarial techniques used in assessing bonus payments.