Life sales provide growth for Count

The 2008/09 financial report for the financial planning and finance aggregator Count Financial, released yesterday, shows that the only segment providing intermediaries with any growth over the past 12 months was life insurance sales.

Count services a network of 418 franchisees, mainly accountants, offering financial planning and loan broking services.

Investment funds under advice fell 16 per cent to $10.7 billion in the year to June.

Loan balances subject to trail commissions fell one per cent to $3.7 billion over the same period.

Residential loans grew over the 12 months but a big fall-off in margin loans accounted for the lower loan balances.

In-force insurance premiums were up 19 per cent to $34.4 million.

The small book of in-force premiums was not able to add much to the bottom line, however. Count's earnings before interest and tax were down 30 per cent and net profit fell 9.1 per cent to $19.4 million.

The strong growth in life sales explains the recent entry into the distribution side of the market by Mortgage Choice, Aussie Home Loans, Infochoice and a number of others.

Life insurance sales tend to go up during an economic downturn, when people start to worry about losing their jobs.

To help push life sales along, the Investment and Financial Services Association has set up a consumer website, Lifewise, to sell the message that Australians are under-insured and a number of life companies have simplified their application procedures.