Zurich Life has blamed a drop in its bond business on the impact of the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) - as it reveals a 42% fall in operating profits.
Zurich Life's Annual Premium Equivalent (APE) - where sales are estimated by taking the value of regular premiums - shrank by 14% to £651m due to the negative impact of the RDR on the firm's retail bond business, it said. The closure of Zurich's Unitised Fixed Rate Bond (UFRB) product also played a part, although the performance was better than expected as the APE was boosted by its Corporate Savings (ZCS) business attracting new schemes in the second half of 2013. Underlying profitability remained strong, Zurich said, due to the positive impact of year on year expense savings and the...
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