Reliance Mutual to complete acquisition four years late

The mutual bought about 25,100 policies, representing £260m of funds under management, in 2004. However, legislation stopped the transfer of about 1,600 policies as it did not explicitly permit any tax-exempt friendly society business to retain its tax exemption when transferred to an insurance company. The Finance Act 2007 has made the transfers possible and Reliance Mutual hopes to complete the acquisition on 31 July. Mark Goodale, chief executive of Reliance Mutual, says: “Over the last five years we have established a sound reputation in the acquisition of small and medium size bloc...