Dublin office boosts Aegon trade

Insurance giant Aegon has attributed the sharp rise in business at its UK offshore life operation to the opening last year of an office in Dublin.

The IFSC operation of Scottish Equitable International was instrumental in a 170 per cent increase in new business to £103 million sterling (€148 million) in the first quarter - close to half the offshore operation's new business for the whole of last year.

"The performance of the Dublin operation in its first seven months has surpassed our expectations," said a spokeswoman for Aegon UK.

The results see Scottish Equitable International running against the trend in what has been a difficult year for the industry amid falling equity markets.

Earlier this month, Mr Willie Slattery, chief executive of State Street International (Ireland) and chairman of industry body Financial Services Ireland, said he expected job numbers in the IFSC to fall over the course of 2003.

His comments came as ABN Amro retreated from its Dublin operation and Germany's Dresdner Bank considered the future of its IFSC-based Dresdner Bank (Ireland).

The Dublin office of Scottish Equitable International opened last August with a staff of just six. It now employs 20 people and accounts for more than 60 per cent of group revenue, catering to high net-worth individuals and corporate business resident in the United Kingdom.

The offshore operation also targets those planning to minimise inheritance tax exposure - a growing market given the doubling of inheritance tax paid in the UK in the past 10 years.

Managing director Mr David Healy said the group was "really pleased" with the success of the Dublin operation and envisaged further growth throughout this year, with job numbers projected to rise 50 per cent by year-end.

Aegon UK's offshore operation opened in 1995 in Luxembourg but decided to open a Dublin office as part of its strategy to focus on the UK market.

"We felt we should be focused on the UK market but faced major restrictions in the regulatory environment in Luxembourg," said Mr Healy yesterday, citing the protective and powerful banking sector and delays in winning approval for new products. "The Dublin operation has a broader range of investment choices."

It has also given the company a lower cost profile, with Scottish Equitable International benefiting from Ireland's favourable corporation tax regime and, according to Mr Healy, its lower salary structure.

The chief executive of troubled insurer Standard Life has told investors that only by keeping the society mutually owned would its performance improve in the long run.

Mr Iain Lumsden told Standard Life's annual general meeting the board "unanimously believes" that keeping mutual status would be in the best interests of the company as a whole.