Friends Provident
Encyclopedia
Friends Provident was an organisation offering life insurance
based in the United Kingdom
. It was founded as a mutual Friendly Society
for Quakers, although it was demutualised in 2001 and became a publicly listed company, no longer linked with the Religious Society of Friends
. On 29 March 2011 Friends Provident changed its trading name to Friends Life
, although its registered name remains as Friends Provident
The head office was located at 100 Wood Street in London
. The registered office is at Pixham End
, Dorking in Surrey. It is a member of the Association of British Insurers and is regulated by the Financial Services Authority
. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange
and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index
until being acquired by buyout firm Resolution
in November 2009. F&C Asset Management
demerged from Friends Provident in 2009.
, both Quakers
, in 1832 in Bradford
as the Friends Provident Institution, a friendly society
for members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). In 1854 it became a mutual life assurance company. In 1918 it acquired Century Insurance and in 1926 it bought Liverpool Marine & General Insurance.
Policies and membership of the Friends Provident Institution was only available to Quakers until 1915. Until 1983, a minimum of five members of the Board of Directors of Friends Provident had to be Quakers. Today, Friends Provident does not have any formal link with the Religious Society of Friends
.
In 1986 it merged with UK Provident. In 1992 it became a foundation partner in the Eureko Alliance in association with AVCB (The Netherlands), Topdanmark (Denmark) and Wasa (Sweden). As part of this alliance, Friends Provident passed all of its then non UK subsidiaries (primarily in Australia and Canada) into Eureko.
In 1993 it acquired the UK
operations of National Mutual of Australia and in 1998 it acquired London & Manchester Assurance.
In July 2001 it went through a process of demutualisation and was first listed on the London Stock Exchange
.
On January 21, 2008 JC Flowers
made a bid of £4bn (175p per share) as an informal offer for the company.
Resolution
resumed talks with Friends Provident in July 2009 but was rejected twice, though Friends Provident eventually agreed to a takeover in August 2009. The £1.86 billion acquisition closed in November 2009.
On 29 March 2011 Friends Provident changed its name to Friends Life
.
The International Life and Pensions business operates throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, and incorporates the Luxemburg based company Lombard International who specialise in providing life assurance based estate planning solutions.
on 30 July 2008, his annual salary for this role is £720,000.
stance. It was the first investment house to offer a fully ethical investment fund
called the Stewardship fund.
, Clyst St. Mary in Exeter
and Dorking
, and is the second largest employer in Salisbury
. There are also a few smaller area offices such as those in Bristol
and Preston.
Internationally Friends Provident has offices in Luxembourg
, Hong Kong
, Singapore
and Dubai
.
In 2007 Friends Provident signed a three year deal to sponsor the domestic one-day cricket
competition, The Friends Provident Trophy.
Friends Provident sponsored Southampton F.C.
and help finance the building of St Mary's Stadium
, until 2006.
Life insurance
Life insurance is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death of the insured person. Depending on the contract, other events such as terminal illness or critical illness may also trigger...
based in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. It was founded as a mutual Friendly Society
Friendly society
A friendly society is a mutual association for insurance, pensions or savings and loan-like purposes, or cooperative banking. It is a mutual organization or benefit society composed of a body of people who join together for a common financial or social purpose...
for Quakers, although it was demutualised in 2001 and became a publicly listed company, no longer linked with the Religious Society of Friends
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
. On 29 March 2011 Friends Provident changed its trading name to Friends Life
Friends Life
Friends Life is a life assurance company formed in 2011, comprising the merged UK operations of Friends Provident and the life assurance businesses acquired from Bupa and AXA UK. The new company began trading in March 2011 with over 5 million customers worldwide.The head office is located at One...
, although its registered name remains as Friends Provident
The head office was located at 100 Wood Street in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The registered office is at Pixham End
Pixham
Pixham is a village in Surrey located approximately 1 km north east of Dorking at the confluence of the River Mole and the Pipp Brook.-History:...
, Dorking in Surrey. It is a member of the Association of British Insurers and is regulated by the Financial Services Authority
Financial Services Authority
The Financial Services Authority is a quasi-judicial body responsible for the regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom. Its board is appointed by the Treasury and the organisation is structured as a company limited by guarantee and owned by the UK government. Its main...
. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index
FTSE 100 Index
The FTSE 100 Index, also called FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the footsie , is a share index of the 100 most highly capitalised UK companies listed on the London Stock Exchange....
until being acquired by buyout firm Resolution
Resolution Limited
Resolution Limited is a Guernsey-incorporated investment vehicle which has the stated intent of forcing consolidation in the British life insurance industry...
in November 2009. F&C Asset Management
F&C Asset Management
F&C Asset Management Plc is a leading asset management company.Unlike many asset managers which are divisions of large financial firms such as banks, F&C Asset Management is a standalone publicly-listed asset manager. It is an active shareholder with a strong commitment to corporate social...
demerged from Friends Provident in 2009.
History
The Company was founded by Samuel Tuke and Joseph RowntreeJoseph Rowntree (educationist)
Joseph Rowntree was an English educationist and shopkeeper.Rowntree was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England, the son of the Quakers John Rowntree and his wife, Elizabeth Lotherington . In 1822 he started a grocery shop in York. The business was successful...
, both Quakers
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
, in 1832 in Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
as the Friends Provident Institution, a friendly society
Friendly society
A friendly society is a mutual association for insurance, pensions or savings and loan-like purposes, or cooperative banking. It is a mutual organization or benefit society composed of a body of people who join together for a common financial or social purpose...
for members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). In 1854 it became a mutual life assurance company. In 1918 it acquired Century Insurance and in 1926 it bought Liverpool Marine & General Insurance.
Policies and membership of the Friends Provident Institution was only available to Quakers until 1915. Until 1983, a minimum of five members of the Board of Directors of Friends Provident had to be Quakers. Today, Friends Provident does not have any formal link with the Religious Society of Friends
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
.
In 1986 it merged with UK Provident. In 1992 it became a foundation partner in the Eureko Alliance in association with AVCB (The Netherlands), Topdanmark (Denmark) and Wasa (Sweden). As part of this alliance, Friends Provident passed all of its then non UK subsidiaries (primarily in Australia and Canada) into Eureko.
In 1993 it acquired the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
operations of National Mutual of Australia and in 1998 it acquired London & Manchester Assurance.
In July 2001 it went through a process of demutualisation and was first listed on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
.
On January 21, 2008 JC Flowers
JC Flowers
J.C. Flowers & Co. is a private equity investment firm, focused on investments in the financial services sector. The firm, founded in 2001, is based in New York City and run by billionaire J. Christopher Flowers, a former Goldman Sachs partner....
made a bid of £4bn (175p per share) as an informal offer for the company.
Resolution
Resolution Limited
Resolution Limited is a Guernsey-incorporated investment vehicle which has the stated intent of forcing consolidation in the British life insurance industry...
resumed talks with Friends Provident in July 2009 but was rejected twice, though Friends Provident eventually agreed to a takeover in August 2009. The £1.86 billion acquisition closed in November 2009.
On 29 March 2011 Friends Provident changed its name to Friends Life
Friends Life
Friends Life is a life assurance company formed in 2011, comprising the merged UK operations of Friends Provident and the life assurance businesses acquired from Bupa and AXA UK. The new company began trading in March 2011 with over 5 million customers worldwide.The head office is located at One...
.
Operations
The UK Life and Pensions business markets a range of life protection, income protection, pensions and investment products for individual customers and corporate clients throughout the UK.The International Life and Pensions business operates throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, and incorporates the Luxemburg based company Lombard International who specialise in providing life assurance based estate planning solutions.
Senior management
Trevor Matthews joined the organisation as chief executiveChief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
on 30 July 2008, his annual salary for this role is £720,000.
Ethical stance
Friends Provident prides itself on its ethicalBusiness ethics
Business ethics is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of business conduct and is relevant to the conduct of individuals and entire organizations.Business...
stance. It was the first investment house to offer a fully ethical investment fund
Collective investment scheme
A collective investment scheme is a way of investing money alongside other investors in order to benefit from the inherent advantages of working as part of a group...
called the Stewardship fund.
Members of the Friends Provident Group
- Friends Provident Life and Pension Limited - Provides life, pension and investment services within the UKUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
- Friends Provident Life Assurance Limited - Provides life and investment services worldwide under EnglishEnglish lawEnglish law is the legal system of England and Wales, and is the basis of common law legal systems used in most Commonwealth countries and the United States except Louisiana...
and GuernseyGuernseyGuernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...
lawLawLaw is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
. - Friends Provident International Limited - Formerly Royal and Sun Alliance International but was taken over in 2003. Provides life and investment services worldwide and operates under the law of the Isle of ManIsle of ManThe Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
. - Lombard International Assurance S.A. - Acquired in 2005, providers of high-end Investment and life cover. Inventors and developers of the privatbancassurance concept. Lombard is based in Luxembourg and deals globally.
Offices
Friends Provident has large offices in a number of locations including ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, Clyst St. Mary in Exeter
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
and Dorking
Dorking
Dorking is a historic market town at the foot of the North Downs approximately south of London, in Surrey, England.- History and development :...
, and is the second largest employer in Salisbury
Salisbury
Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...
. There are also a few smaller area offices such as those in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
and Preston.
Internationally Friends Provident has offices in Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
.
Sports sponsorships
In 2009 the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced that Friends Provident will be the title sponsor for the new Twenty20 competition, the Friends Provident T20.In 2007 Friends Provident signed a three year deal to sponsor the domestic one-day cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
competition, The Friends Provident Trophy.
Friends Provident sponsored Southampton F.C.
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
and help finance the building of St Mary's Stadium
St Mary's Stadium
St Mary's Stadium is the home of Southampton F.C., in the city of Southampton. It is a UEFA 4-star rated stadium and with a capacity of 32,689 is the largest football stadium in the south of England, outside of London.-History:...
, until 2006.