Pearl Group

Abandon the antiquated investment and management systems of the past

'Closed' funds are those that are closed to new business. Many are left capital-poor, and then, as in our case, sold off. We thought the industry was also selling policyholders short. So we did something about it

We introduced our own liability & asset management company, Axial. And an approach used by more sophisticated investors

Amongst other things, it reduces risk - and releases funds to policyholders - based on frequent analysis and modelling of asset and liability risk across a whole range of market scenarios

Steered by the FSA, all life offices are now having to do something similar (Asset Risk Management) - but they mostly do twice a year what we are doing monthly - and planning soon to do every day

Or, as a leading independent analyst, put it, 'It's like comparing Star Trek to the Flintstones'

N.B. And, as we're only looking after the needs of our existing policyholders, they see all the benefit - without the distractions of chasing new customers