The Sun.
London, England, 1862-03-24 00:00:00

bonus payable on the 138 beneficial polka
bad become claims, the holders of thor,e poheleK,
previously surrendered for money bonsiderwtioC
reversionary bonuses to the extent of '£11,688::
these had remained. payable only at detath;
suiu
gross amount of bonus attaching to din
of £101,017 would have been £31,984, giv-
ing an average rate of 31 per cent.. on
the sum assured. One policy that has drop,Ped
[ during the year deserves special remark. It NN 'as
one et" our early policies, of £5,000, and if a part .of
the bonus had. not been taken before it became a
claim the bonus addition to the principal sum as-
sured would have amounted to £2,834 or £56 123.
per cent. In addition to the 167 policies which have•
become claims in the past year we hav e purchased
56 policies, 71 others have lapsed, and three have
ceased by expiry of time. The total number off
since the previous year is thus 297, aria the
number on 443, making a total increase of 146
policies. The claims which have accrued upon poll-
cies that have fallen in during the year amount
to £141,861 ; but according to tables upon which
our calculations are based we might have expected
that the claims would have amounted to £160,630,
so that we have a differnce in favour of the society
of £18,778. Consequently the last year has been a
favourable one to us. (Cheers.) The ,ages of the
parties whose policies have fallen in by death in the
course of 1861 were--aged 70 and upwards, 23 ; be-
tween 70 and 80,
90 years—the averla3ge aobf oavl el
bBeoi,olgo ;ssaln dyeathres.olc;
whole therefore have been very profitable policies to
the office. The assurance fund now amounts to more
than £2,000,000. We have in all 8,671 policies in
existence, insuring £6,802,158, -which with the
bonuses added makes a total liability of £7,388,347,
to meet which we have £2,030,000 of invested
capital, together with an income of £200,000 a year
arising from premiums. Thus we have more than
one-fourth of our whole liability positively put- by
in investments of the most unquestionable character,
for we have not one farthing out which is mot safely
invested, our object Ix:: itii,`.3n citvp.s ia.bly to select
safe investments rather than to place out our moi2cy
at a high rate of interest which might possibly,.
when we made up our accounts, prove fallacious.
(Hear, hear.) On former occasions I have ,alluded
to the money advanced by us in the shape of loans
to policy holders upon the security of their polices.
The amount of these loans does not appear to have
increased much in the past year, but it has so never-.
theless. During the year we lent £15,104, but we
have had repaid £11,700 in respect to loans upon
policies that have fallen in and become claims dur-
ing the year. The amount we have actually lent
during the year upon the security of policies in our
own office is £15,000. This is an item to which I
would draw attention, because it speaks of a prin-
ciple in connection with our policies which in diffi-
cult times may be found of great benefit to the
assured—l mean the facility we offer to our policy-
holders of raising money for a long or a short period
upon the security of their policies, while, on the
other hand, we cannot have better security than tbasc
policies, nor, in the event of the loans not being re-
paid before the policies fall in can we do better
than in this way reducing the liability before the
claims arise. As showing the value of this facility
the ear advanced
that we have, in the course ofy. ,
and of our policies at the same time, I may mention
of course, one of our earliest policies, the bonus
upon one policy of £l,OOO a loan of £9OO. It is,
accumulations of which have raised its value ISO
much that we felt perfectly justified in making that
apparently large advance. It should be borne fu
mind, too, that this is a peculiarly easy and inex-
pensive mode of borrowing money. There is no
trouble, no delay, and no charge, the only expense
being the stamp day of 2s. 6d. per cent. Another
point I would refer to is the purchase of policies:
Under this head we have paid £B,OOO during the
year, which is so much in addition to the £119,328
balance, which we have laid by. These purchases
are really an investment, and a very valuable one
too, for the society, seeing that we make a
profit on any policy we buy up. Om: office
expenses may appear at first sight sometitat
large, but I do not think you will consider them an
when I tell you that the figures which appear
the account against that item include every charge,
salaries, advertisements (which are necessarily very
heavy), stationery, rent, and everything else. You
will observe that the amount is £7,557, which,
upon £266,000, our total income, is under three per
per cent. (Hear, hear.) There are many gentle-
men connected with large commercial undertakings
in the room, but I very much doubt whether they
can point out any similar establishment which is
carried on at the same rate of expenditure. (Hear,
hear.) I would again impress upon your minds
the very high position in which we stand—that we
have more than one quarter of our whole liabilities
invested, besides an annual income of £200,000 in
round numbers from premiums, and £82,000 from
investments to meet the claims arising upon our
policies. (Hear, hear.) This I say is a position of
affairs which ought not only to afford groat confi-
dence to the present policy holders, but to satisfy
those who may contemplate joining us, that what
they contribute to our funds is not required
to make up deficiencies upon the claims of ex-
isting policies, and that they will receive the whole
benefit of their own premiums, and are likely to be
largely benefited by the premiums already paid—
(hear, hear)—and that in fact we confer upon new
insurers a great kindness in admitting them. 1
have now to move that the statement of aceounto
and reports now laid upon the table be received and:
adopted.

Mr. ROUTE, deputy-chairman, seconded the
motion.
In answer to questions,
The CHAIRMAN stated that the business was
rather less in the current than in the corres
ponding year of the last quinquennial period
—that the rate of interest charged upon loans
made on the security of policies was five per
p
cent., and that the £7,388,446 included liabilities
unon all policies, bonuses, and every thing else u
to the Ist January, 1861.
Mr. WHITEMAN considered that the very
satisfactory statement which had been presented to
them ought to be published to the world as a model
for all other institutions of the same kind, exhibiting
as it did in the most concise and open manner the
position of the office, leaving nothing to be inquired
into. (Hear, hear.) With an income of nearly
£200,000 from premiums, besides the interest upon
their investments, and with one quarter of their
total liabilities in handand invested, the world must
be assured of their stability ; and if all other offices
would make it a rule of placing their accounts be-
fore the public in a simple form, showing in three
lines their receipts from premiums, their total lia-
bilities on policies issued, and the amount of their
invested capital, many of those sad results 'Thiel'
had attended the failure and winding p
t hu of msur-
mighave been
ante companies of late years
avoided.
unanimously.
by Mr.
holders
at the meeting out of a bodyf f the satisfactionwhich
was a convincing Prw- °t. (Hear.)
The CHAIRMAN thoughoefsB7ll7l
policyparty present
mensgen_
voted to the auditors for their
was felt in the
auditoxs
the past year, and the same
motion
olt motion
6tio we
Nve
a 8
do of the
arroundle dehenal
itinromantaihnl e policy
Routh, TO hne
the
were re-elected.
Mr. T. MrrerrELL asked whether it would be
services in
practicablewho were entitled to attend the meeting (that was
those who were insured for more than £500) an
abstract of the accounts a few d
days before the meet-
ing_ took place?
The CHAIRMAN replied that '
it was settled two
years ago that the reports
should be printed, and
lie at the office some days before the meeting for
such of the Proprietors as chose to apply for them,
but with so large a proprietary it would involve a
considerable expense to send round the report. It
could not be sent
with the notice of meeting, as that
had to be given
1 so long beforehand that the report
was never ready when the notices were sent.
After some conversation,
The CHAIRMAN promised to take it into con-
sideration whether the reports could not ho sent
round with the notices for payment of the pre-
miums. •

In answer to Mr. BOWLEY,
The CHAIRMAN said that the largest amount of
bonus paid by the office was 12,834 uoon a policy
of £5,000, which was equal to £56 12d.
per cm r.
The date of that policy was 1823.
asked
accorded
compliment
.w ta :
M (the actuary), and Mr. A.
Mr. DOWNES (the actuary) remed that there
was one policy the bonuses upon which amounted
to about 100 per cent.
On the motion of Air. BOWLEY, seconded by
Mr. CURTIS, a vote of t
the chairman and directors, which having been.
briefly similaracknowledged, w
paid to
r. Downes hes Macdonald (the secretnry), which
Mr. Downes
acknowledged, and this brought the business to
itB Conclusion.