Hallmark & St George produce top life returns

The adage that insurance is a numbers game was borne out in the life insurance statistics produced by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority yesterday. The big insurers produced better returns.

According to the first APRA Half Yearly Life Insurance Bulletin, which provided data on the performance of the industry in the 12 months to December last year, Hallmark Life, which is owned by GE Money, had the best return on net assets, at 30.6 per cent.

Hallmark was the subject of criticism by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in 2006 and 2008 over poor management of its sales process and failure to meet its legal obligation to have a "reasonable basis" for its advice to customers.

St George Life was close behind with a 30 per cent return on net assets. APRA said the industry's average return on net assets was 11.9 per cent.

Others with above average returns included Swiss Re Life & Health Australia, with a 29 per cent return on net assets, MLC (25 per cent), AMP Life (19.3 per cent) and Westpac Life (16 per cent) and Colonial Mutual (14.5 per cent).

Some of the below average performers were Asteron, with a six per cent return on net assets, ING Life (nine per cent), Munich Re (2.5 per cent), and Zurich Australia (1.9 per cent).

Publication of the Half Yearly Life Insurance Bulletin is a minor milestone for APRA, with the regulator finally consolidating for industry and public use its database of life insurance industry statistics.

NAB a buyer of small US banks

National Australia Bank may make further, though small, acquisitions of banks in the United States to add to its existing Great Western Bank business based in the mid-west.

Cameron Clyne, managing director of NAB, told the Financial Review that the US banking subsidiary was "a profitable business for us. It's a strongly funded business; it operates with margins and returns commensurate with our Australian business. And longer term we will make a series of decisions around it in terms of size and fit within the group."

NAB has made three small purchases of banks in the mid-west since first buying Great Western in late 2007.