Canada Life, Scottish Provident and Standard Life have vehemently ruled out any imminent moves to become publicly quoted companies, warning investors not to be misled by persistent rumours of possible free share windfalls for policyholders.

The companies were reacting to a wave of speculation, being generated, in some cases by brokers, in a bid to boost sales of their with-profits endowment policies.

Canada Life, which has consistently dismissed rumours that it is about to abandon its mutual status, is struggling to cope with the influx of new policies with up to 20,000 estimated to have been purchased in the past three months. This rush was fuelled by rumours of a cut-off date of December 31st for pay-outs to policyholders if it demutualised.

A spokesman for Canada Life said it had no idea where the December 31st date came from and again stressed that the company was not considering changing its status and was anxious to dispel this rumour.

It is concerned that investors may be buying with-profits endowments as a short-term investment and could risk disappointment. The spokesman said it would be interested to hear of brokers who may be encouraging sales on the basis of an imminent flotation.

Other companies being tipped as likely soon to come to the market and offer free shares to policyholders are Scottish Provident and Standard Life.

A spokesperson for Scottish Provident has said it is "absolutely not looking at a flotation. We will remain a mutual as we believe that this is in the best interest of our policyholders."

Standard Life has also reiterated that it will not be changing its status again arguing that it would not be in the best interests of its customers.

See page 2 this section and Business This Week 2, page 1, The Merchant