Submitted by admin on April 23, 2009 - 01:02
Assets
As the figures already mentioned would suggest, life assurance offices command large financial resources. In 1959–60 assets (in respect of New Zealand business and for ordinary plus industrial assurance) amounted to £249 million, of which nearly 97 per cent represented life assurance and annuity funds. This total was held as follows:
Amount £(m.) | Proportion of Total Per Cent | |
Mortgages on property | 113·4 | 45·5 |
Loans on policies | 7·8 | 3·1 |
New Zealand Government securities | 56·3 | 22·6 |
Local authority securities | 40·6 | 16·3 |
Landed and house property | 9·8 | 3·9 |
Company stocks, shares and debentures | 15·7 | 6·3 |
Other assets | 5·7 | 2·3 |
—— | —— | |
Totals | 249·3 | 100·0 |
The importance of life assurance as a source of funds for capital expenditure is clear from these figures. Over recent years mortgages (45·5 of the total above) have absorbed a relatively greater amount of funds, the proportion of assets held in this form having increased from 21·7 per cent in 1949–50. A marked fall in the proportion invested in Government securities was the counterpart of this increase.