Mike Yardley, group chief executive, commented: “New business at Bright Grey reduced on the PVNBP basis , reflecting more conservative persistency assumptions than had been used for the previous year’s figures. In terms of new annual premiums written, Bright Grey’s performance was very good - an increase of 15% over the 2005 figures. This is particularly impressive against a background of a very tough year indeed for individual protection sales.”
Bright Grey launched its Menu Protection Plan to the market in March 2003 and has increased its sales and share of the protection market every year since launch. In the last 12 months, much of this growth has been driven by sales of Guaranteed Life or Critical Illness Cover, and sales of Critical Illness Cover were also particularly strong.
Distribution director Andy Peters said: "Bright Grey has had another really good year. Sales are up 15%, despite difficult market conditions and it's particularly pleasing to see that more and more people are using the flexibility of our Menu Protection Plan to get good value, tailored protection solutions for their clients.
"The strength of our overall proposition has contributed to this growth and is reflected in our appointment to a number of panels, including Home of Choice and Sesame Protection Select Plus, during the course of the year. The launch of our extranet and investment in our distribution team along with the technology they use to support advisers, have also played key roles in this success.
"In 2007 we plan to continue this growth momentum and have just recruited four more members to our face-to-face distribution team. And with service enhancements in the pipeline that will strengthen our overall proposition, our over-riding aim is to strengthen the breadth and depth of Bright Grey's adviser relationships across the board. In particular we anticipate growth in the multi-tie model, which is relatively new to the protection industry, and have plans in place to grow our share of this area of the market."
