THE EQUITABLE LIFE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 5665, 12 August 1905, Page 3

THE EQUITABLE LIFE.

WHAT THE CABLES MEAN. INTERVIEW WITH THE LOCAL MANAGER. The trouble in the directorate of Oh Kuuiuble Life Assurance Society, which lias been tlie subject of several startlint cable mesac,.-:-. of bite, so closely a.• foots a lar-e number of policy-holders 11. this colony that a representativo of tin ‘'Times” waited ui<on the resident seentary yesterday, to ascertain if be ha< receives! any advice by Thursday’s mai us to further developments.

In yesterday's '‘Tiim*.-*’’ it. was state-'! that a cablegram had been n/wivr-d n Sydney from the president of the cicty. Mr Paul Morton, to tlio following effect: “Nobody horn questions Uh stability of tho Uquitahlo Society. I<> liuv-holders haves no can so for uneasiness. You can safely give your pcitional assurance to this effect. Mr Gould explained that Mr Mortoi tv <us tho chairman of the society at rsev. York, and his assurance' was very satis factory. ‘‘Tho American public Kuo.' the Kquitablo so well,” ho continued ‘know Its groat strength, and Km a*. liertv securely their interests are saleguarded bv tho periodical valuations i»\ I he New York Su..to officials, who valm tlio society’s liabilities under po mu-s check Uio balance-sheets. and valm each and every one of the investments And they know, too, how much cionenco to place upon irresponsible P r( -£ } statements. Out hero, while the alii oials of tho society, who know thes< tilings, were not in any way affected by tho recent cable reflecting the .stability of the society,, one can quite understand, that a number of the policyholdors in New Zealand wore disturbed about the matter. Instead of feeling uneasy, I think our policy-holders should congratulate themselves more than over anon being policy-holders. Independent examinations of tho society’s affairs have been made by the Insurance Department of the State oNow York, snd oy a committee appointed for that purpose, and both reports prove that the funds of the society, according to its balance-sheets, are in ita possession, and its investments are absolutely sound. The society s liabilities under its policies Have been valued on a most stringent basis, _ and our surplus of assets over liabilities was found at the end of 1904 to he £16,582,072. Possibly no more stringent examination of any society’s am counts has ever been made, and no result can have boon more satisfactory. What tho Equitable has accomplished for its policy-holder's is illustrated by tho fact that during the last forty-five vears tho total benefits accruing to them, that is to say, tho amount paid to policy-holders, together with the assets now held, have exceeded £183,OCX),000, or over £5,900,000 more than tho policy-holders have themselves paid to tho society in premiums. -A unique assurance transaction has just been effected. The United Cigar Stores Company desired to assure the lives of many of its employees for £2OO and upwards, and selected the hquit■ubio as the company. The total amount of assurance at risk on tho company's employee's will aggregate some £400,000. All of the premiums these policies axo to bo paid by the United Ciga; Stores Company, and not by tho employees,” "What amount do the surplus funds represent, as compared to the liabilities? “Well, £24 4s 2d, that is, wo have over £124 in gilt-edged securities or cash for every £IOO of liabilities under our policies. Tills is a much larger safety fund than that possessed by any other lifo office in tho world, and is sufficient in itself, now that two close investigations have shown tho soundness of tho investments, to convince the most sceptical of our GOO,OOO policyholders that his interests aro well looked after.”

What effect will the actions that are being taken against former officers of the society have ?

“Wo have no information of the ■amount involved, but if it should bo held by the Courts that tho profits which these former officers have made by thoir connection with underwriting syndicates which sold securities to the society wore illegal, then restitution must follow, and the society will bo so much the richer. Tho prosecution of these gentlemen will have a good effect, as it must bo taken as an earnest of tho thoroughness with which tho now management is to bo conducted. It is not suggested that any of these securities were had; on the contrary they have been profitable to the society, but tho transactions arc held to havo been illegal, the officers having made profits for themselves out of tho society’s financial transactions.” It is understood that the directors of the sociotv are in future to be elected by policy-holders, and that Messrs Grover Cleveland, George AVestingbouso, und Justice O’Brien have accepted positions as policy-holders’ trustees. How far do their powers extend? Arc they simply to nominate directors on behalf of the policy-holders, or have they any ether power? “Their powers are very wide. They have practically the control ot the appointment of directors until the mutualisation scheme adopted by tho board can be given full effect to. They hold in trust a majority of tho shares in the cooiety, which will enable them to elect directors to fill all vacancies occurring on the board. The directors they vote for are to bo policy-holders, and as soon ns expression of opinion from policyholders can he obtained the trustees will be guided by the policy-holders’ wishes in voting. The society is. therefore, now under tho control of tho policy-holders, as represented by these three gentlemen, whoso names arc sufficient guarantee, even at this distance, that the interests of tho holders of policies will be protected. Policy-hold-ers in Australia and New Zealand will Tote for directors in common with others ns soon as that change is given effect to, but in the meantime letters from policyholders expressing a preference for a nominee are invited to bo sent to the trustees at tho Equitable building. No. 120, Broadway, New York.” This change will make the society purely mutual, as we are use to the Word in Australasia?

“That is so. Hitherto tho profits of the business have been tho property of policy-holders, but the directors hove been elected from and by the stockholders. The holders of the stock—which only amounts to £20,550, and which was necessary in order to comply with the United States laws—will continue to receive 7 per cent, interest, but as stock-holders, they will have uo other powers. Tho superintendent of insurance has recommended that the stock should be purchased by tho society at a price only commensurate with its dividend of 7 per cent., and as soon as this can bo arranged tho stock will be absolutely wiped out.” The number of persons insured in the Equitable in Australia and Now Zealand is 17,000 and the aggregate protection over six millions sterling.