CORNHILL MAY STOP TAKING ON LIFE AND PENSIONS BUSINESS

Cornhill Insurance, the UK subsidiary of German insurer Allianz, is considering dropping its 180-strong life assurance sales force and closing its life assurance and pensions arm to new business, The Times reports today. Cornhill has been in life assurance for 32 years, but is primarily a general insurance business. It is reported to have decided that the government’s new low-margin stakeholder pension will make selling pensions and investments uneconomic and to be switching its life business to selling mortgage protection products. Cornhill’s new life and pensions business fell to £96.7m last year from £100.6m in 1998.