Big numbers for relative newcomer Ageas

The company, which broke into the UK market just over three years ago, has been investing heavily in its people and processes, according to Darren Spriggs, acting managing director for Ageas Protect, who said this focus has been reaping dividends for the company.

He said: “We have been sticking to the core principles of the business, investing in getting the best people on board, and we are now looking at the product proposition to see where we can build on this growth momentum and gain new business.

“If you compare where we were in 2010, we had about 6.4 per cent of the market. This rose to 8.1 per cent in October last year and we expect market share to be north of that when the final figures come out later this week.”

According to the results, the company has turned around the £24.8m loss it posted in 2010 as it invested in building up the business; its profit for the year end 2011 has reached £105m and total income is up 67.8 per cent to £1.9bn.

Ageas Protect now protects more than 190,000 lives, an increase of 70,000 from 2010.

Mr Spriggs said: “The strength and depth of the gene pool in Ageas Protect is important to this growth - we share a common purpose to build on our core philosophies but to do something different and see where we can grow our lines of business.”

He said the company has been undertaking a root-and-branch review of its existing proposition, looking at different product offerings that it could develop and considering new processes to help it grow.

According to Andy Milburn, head of marketing for Ageas Protect, the company has developed a list of products and services it could launch or improve, although he said it is critical to back the ‘game-changers’ and be canny about where best to invest in order to grow.

For example, the company, which conducts the majority of its business through the intermediary market, is looking at the whole-of-life proposition, although no plans have been set in stone.

Mr Spriggs said: “You can’t just go after the shiny baubles - you need to work out what exactly the market wants and how to deliver it.

“Whole of life is something we are looking at carefully, as it very much underpins protection strategies for high net worth clients of IFAs.

“We don’t want to find ourselves in a situation where advisers come to us for one type of protection but have to go somewhere else for another.”