The Sun.
London, England, 1870-02-03 00:00:00

EBRUARY 3, 1870.

PROVIDENT CLERKS" LIFE ASSURANCE

SS 0 CIATIO.V.

The twenty-ninth annual meeting of the mem-
bers of this association was held last evening at the
I ondon Tavern. R. 11. Jones, Esq., chairman of
the board of directors, presided.
The SECRETARY read the annual report as
follows :
The board of directors have the pleasure to present to
the members their twenty-ninth annual report. the new
proposals received during the year 1869 were 1,415, for
£269,550, of which were accepted and completed 1,180, for
£223,550, the remainder being either deferred or declined,
or now awaiting completion. The new annual income
arising in respect of the policies completed is £6,198 15s.
10d. The income for 1869 was—From premiums, £63,737
4s. Bd.; interest on investments, £17,088 7s. 4d.; profit on
exchange of investments, £349 45.; total, £81,174 18s.
Ono hundred and fifty-four policies, assuring with bonuses
the sum of £28,136 7s. 11d., have become claims by death.
After provision for all claims and expenses, the amount
added to the investment fund is £38,540 14s. Bd., being 48
percent. of the annual income. The sum of £1,488 58.8(1.
has been received in purchase of immediate annuities.
The assets of the association, clear of all known claims
and demands, amounted on the 31st December last to
£411,746 10s. 3d. The directors retiring by r,..tation are
—Mr. Samuel Jepps, Mr. Alexander Dawson, and Mr.
James Lintott, who, being eligible, offer themselves for
re-election. The following gentlemen, duly qualified, are
proposed as auditors for the ensuing year —Mr. James
Richard Lloyd, Mr. Francis Frederick Toole, and Mr.
Charles Woolley. During the late session of Parliament
a bill was introduced by the Right Hon. Stephen Cave
to render compulsory the publication of the accounts of
life insurance offices. As this association has from its
commencement issued a clear and intelligible balance
heet, not only to its own members but to the public at
large, the measure in question met with the warm sup-
port of the board, and although from the illness of Mr.
Cave the bill was subsequently abandoned, there is little
doubt that a measure acting in the same direction, but of
wider scope, will be presented to the Eluse of Commons
at an early period, under auspices which will ensure its
passing. Tho practice of the association having been, as
above stated, to publish annually the full details of its
income and expenditure, the board would probably have
been held to have done sufficient had they continued the
form of publication so long adopted, but having in view
the alarm and excitement created among policy-holders,
by recent events in the life assurance world, and having
also a well-grounded confidence that the more fully the
position of this association is known the more highly it
will be appreciated by those competent to judge, the board
deemed it advisable to add to their usual report such de-
tailed information as should enable any member, who may
desire to investigate for himself the condition of the asso-
ciation, to do so with absolute certainty. With this view
a tabular statement, which has been prepared with great
care, can be had on application at the office, showing, in
quinquennial groups of ages, the whole liability of the
contingent assurances, endowments, and annuities, to-
gether with the income derived from the various classes of
association upon life policies, also its liabilities upon
policies. The Carlisle table of mortality is used for the
calculations of the Association, and the rate of interest
assumed is three per cent., while the rate actually yielded
by the invested funds is £1 15s. ld. per cent., a fact which
promises well for the future divisions of profit. In the
statement of the funds and effects of the Association,
published in the balance sheet, a further sub-division
has been made, showing the various classes of mort-
gage securities in which those funds are invested.
With these figures the entire position of the Provident
Clerks' Association is open to investigation, and
the board rest with perfect confidence in the result.
The average duration of policies in existence is Si- years.
The table
:referred to exhibit the total liability of the
association in respect of its life and annuity business. To
meet this the balance sheet shows a clear surplus fund,
after providing for all known claims, of £111,746 10s. 3d.,
while the annual income of the [association, dating from
the 31st December last, and irrespective of all new assu-
rances to bo effected in the cut rent year is, as regards its
then liabilities :—From assurance in force, .£63,829 15s. ;
from interest on investments, £18,3 i 5 10s. 11d. Total,
£82,185 ss. lid. ; and the latter item will, before the close
of the current year, exceed £20,000 per annum. The
publication of the foregoing facts will doubtless be wel-
comed by the numerous members of the association, as
showing the firm basis on which the office rests, and the
absolute certainty with which their widows and families
may look to its funds for payment of their policies. Their
use will, however, it is hoped, go somewhat beyond this.
They will form a powerful weapon in the hands of every
member to combat those who take advantage of recent
exposures, to throw doubts upon the very principle of life
assurance, as showing, beyond the possibility of denial,
that a policy in an office so sound, and so carefully
managed as the Provident Clerks' Association, is not only
a safe and certain provision, but a profitable investment.
To maintain this high position, and even further to de-
velops the usefulness of the Association, the board feel
they may count upon the co• operacion of the members a
support vihich has never failed them in times past, and to
which they look forward with full confidence in the
future.

The CHAIRMAN, in rising to move the adop,,io 1
of the report, said it was a great pleasure to him to
meet them in their 30th year, and to see faces
amongst them familiar to him from the commence-
(Rent of the association. (Hear, hear.) The report
and balance-sheet on the present occasion, it would
be at once seen, entered more fully than usual into
the position of the association, and the reason for such
au exposition was that everybody might be satisfied
with respect to the exact position of the institution.
There were one or two things in the report on which
he would just make a passing remark ; and the
first was the sum set down for the purchase of poli-
cies. The directors regretted that any of their
assurers should have to part with their assurance
policies, but, at the same time, they would be ever
ready to help all those who desired to retain their
interest in the society. 'The claims by death dur-
ing the previous year, 1868, had been remarkably
small, and those in 1869 were still moderate and
were less even than in 1867. Then with respect to
the expenditure on advertisements, they all know the
necessity there was for increasing this means of pub •
lithty during the last year, and the result had justi-
fied the outlay. They had to repair the house in
Moorgate-street in accordance with the terms of
the lease, and the other item, postage, had in-
creased in consequence of it becoming necessary
to send each member a circular last year, a
trifling matter in appearance, but it entailed rather
large expenditure. Notwithstanding all this and
the increased business they had secured, their expen-
diture was:only £25 in excess of that of last year.
(Hear, hear.) Of the £22,000 at call, £15,000 had
been disposed of in a mortgage, and the remaining
portion of the sum was bespoken. The cheque
would shortlybe drawn for it. The amount due from
agents had all been paid, and he felt sure the mem-
bers would be satisfied with the report the directors
had placed before them. Nothing could be more
plain and straightforward than it was. The direc-
tors had but one object to promote, and that was to
benefit the members to the utmost ; and were he to
go over parts of the report in detail, he felt he
should only weaken rather then strengthen the state
meats contained therein. The object they had in view
in starting the association was to assist clerks,and the
queztion he had to ask was, had they (the directors)
effected their object. (Cheers.) Ile thought they
had. After every claim had been provided for they
had still a handsome surplus of £411,000, and
without an association was in a sound and stable
position it would never have the boldness to publish
a statement similar to that the directors had pre-
sented them with on that occasion. Bearing in mind
their very prosperous condition, he thought they
had ample cause to congratulate each other on the
great success that hal attended their operations
luring the nine and twenty years that had passed
away. lie could not resume his seat without, as
usual, urging on the members to help the directors
in increasing the number of their assurers. It was
by no means a difficult.task to secure one in-
mrer in the year, and if each of the members
would only do that, how much greater
would be their success. They all worked for th-
niutual advantage of each other—(cheers)—and,
therefore, if the directors worked hard, he hoped
they would all do something to help them in return.
fie concluded by moving the adoption of the re-
report.

Mr. R. TUCKER felt great pleasure in seconding
he motion. He congratulated them, and confirmed
61 that had been set foah with respect to the
position of the society. The society had made
.;rent progress of that there could be no doubt ;
an l
Intwithstanding the troubles that had oceurrA in
he commercial world during the last year, bs d.d
lot see anything that lead him to believe the pros-
pects of the next bonus were at all diAlinished.
(Hear, hear.) The figures contained in the repor'
.sere remarkable, and his duty was a very simple
)ne—viz., to examine. The figures in the
,-eport had been compiled by their zealous
secretary, and as the directors had taken the mem-
bers into their confidence, it was only fair the