AUSTRALIAN MUTUAL PROVIDENT SOCIETY.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 12866, 26 May 1905, Page 8

AUSTRALIAN MUTUAL PROVIDENT SOCIETY.

I ATOUAL MEETING. t . The fifth-sixth annlual meeting of the Australian Mutual Provident Society was held at Sydney on the sth inst. The Chairman of Directors l(iBIr Thomas Littlejohn) presided. THE CHAIRMAN'S ADDRESS. The Chairman, in mdving the adoption of the report and, balance-sheet, said t— j I have to repeat the tale of continuous prosperity to which yotu have listened for so many years. The new "business is practically tthe santfe as that ior 1903, the policies issued being four more, the stain assured £5188 less, the total new premiums £2457 more. The claims by death have been somewhat heaivy, exceeding those of 1903 by £50,000 ; b)ut they are still largely below tihe number expected according to the table on which we base our caldulai&oms. The endowment assurances manured are about the same. We have increased t»he accumulated funds by nearly £900,000, bringing them ujp to aver 20£ millions. (Applause.) We comtinsue the prudent conirse of maMng 1 additional reserves wherever we tlhink there is the slightest doubt asitbthe sttfficiency of the security, aiiid of writing down the office premises, thfus creating a material hidden reserve and lessening the sum chargeable for rant. The rnfdiustrial dapartment, to wiiicii reference was made last year, is tojow in full , working order. We are jproceerding cautiotusly, aod are at present worjdng only in the lange cetotres. We have been somewhat haimjpesreid in our operations by the fact tfrat assurances on infantile lives are at present illegal con-tracts within the Comotonwealtli. Ours is the only country where life assurance is practised in whidh iMs disability exists, but we decided that we sfeduld do aothingthat has the semblance of illegality about it. A Bill *o xentave this disability was passed by the Federal House of Representatives, last session, bait there was not siifficient time to g€t the Bill through the Senate. The measure will, no ddubt, be tafeen up again early in the coming, sessstoiu CLOSE OF A TRIENNIAL PERIOD.

We have faunfd it necessary, in, order to meet the requirements of our rajpidly increasing business, to ojpen new district offices at Lisimofre, and Kalgoorlie, and we are erecting olffi.ee premises at Tamworth and Lismiore. We shiall follow later on with loluijdings at Kalgoorlie and .Waaroamjbool. Tiie revenue aocciunt and balauceteheet gives full particulars regarding the income and outgo of the year, and the amounts o f the varidus securities in which the assets are invested. From these you m-ay detfuse the facts that the irate of interest realised during the year has ibjeen. £4 9s per cent, on the mean funlds'-an increase of 2d on the rate for last year— while the rate of expenses has been 13.58 of the annual premium re-ceiptsr-practdcally identical with that of 1903. The actuary's report affords complete information regarding the movement of the business, arid the method and results of the .Valuation, a »d contains some other .particulars which can scarcely f/ail to ft* oi interest to you. Being the close of a triennial period we ha.ye to present the results O f the valuation with more than ordinary fulness in order to comply with the retirements of the various State Governments. We -hope the day i s not far distant when those separate Acts, involving as they do labour and expense will be replaced by one comprehensive enactment. INCREASE OF NEARLY ONE AND A HALF MILLION.

fhe_ figures on the firs* pag . of the report are very instructive. They show that we Have made a net increase of nearly one and * half million in sums assured, and nearly £50,000 in annual premium income, as the result ol the year's operations. The void from all source* has been only about 4£ per cent, of the business existing hi the end of the year. This is a remarkable tribute to the stability of the business, a very important feature in th© management of a life office. It was explained last year that the immediate annuities had been valued at 3 per cent. A further step in the direction of increased stability has now been faken by valuing all the rest of the annuities at the same rate, while for all participating assurances issued since Ist January, 1903, the rate of 3 per cent, has also been employed. We are thus gradually working up to a 3 per cent, rate for the whole business. When you remember that we realise nearly 4£ per cent, on our investments you will see what a wide margin we are preserving as a fund from which to provide future bonuses. SURPLUS OF MORE THAN £700,000. !

The surplus for ihe year is C 704.677 8s sd, and after increasing the reserve for contingencies, which T ask you to observe is quite apart from the reserve for 'ihe depreciation of securities, there remains a sum of £618,455 J9s lOd for distribution as a cash bonus amoig ihe members. This is not enly. the largest amount which we divided in one year, but it is much larger than has* ever been distributed in a similar period by any other mutual office in the British Empire. You will observe that the cash surplus amounts to 36.1 per cent, of the participating premiums paid during the year ; the corresponding rate in 1903 «M 35,0. per cent. In the actuary's

reporl""will be found a table showing the various descriptions of investments arranged under the several rates of inlerest yielded by each. A similar table was inserted in the last triennial report for 1901, and a few comparisons between the two will serve to indicate the "trend of the invnetment busine^. In loans on mortgage we had in 19*) I 47 per cent, of the assets, yielding £ i 9s per cent. ; in 1904 46 per cent., yielding £4 9s 9d per cent. Foreclosures represented 3.2 per cent, in 1901, yielding gross £5 16s 5d per cent., while in 1904 ihe proportion was 2^ per cent., yielding £6 13s 5d per cent. Loans on policies in 1901 were 22 per cent., yielding £5 14s 'Jd. and 1904 21 per cent., returning £5 12s. Office premises represented only 2.1 and 1.7 per cent, respectively, yielding £4 19s 9d and £4 19s 6d. Tn Government securities we had in 1901 16* per cenl., yielding £3 9s Bd, and in 1904 18 per cent., returning £3 11s 6d per cent. In 1901 we had 2.5 percent, of the assefe unproductive, and in 1904 2.3 per cent. In municipal securities we had in 1901 5.1 per cent., yielding £4 0s 5d per cent., and in 190-4 7.0 per cent., yielding £4 2s Id per oent. On the whole the assets were invested to yield in 1901 £4 9s 6d per cent., and in 1904 £4 9s 8d per can*. In *he: interval, however, the rate had dropped to £4 9s 2d in 1903. You will see, therefore, that we have secured a somewhat higher rate of interest while we have at the same time increased the holdings in the more desirable securities.

MAGNITUDE OF SOCIETY.

Now I vamt to carry away a few Bgures which will enable you to fown some idea of the magjnittwie of tjie operations of the society, an<d of the important part it is playing in the development of ttois young nation. Adding the bonuses, to be now declared. we have assurances at risk for £65.817,000; we have an« annual^ income from promiums of £1,765,090, a n3d from interest of £940,381. or in all £2,706,471 ; we have assets of £21,000,000, and we are adding- to our fuootds nbout £900,000 a year : while we are paying for death claims and matured endowment assurances a *.vm exceeding £1,000,000 a year. During the life of the society we ha'ye paid to members or their rqpresentatives various benefits a-gigre-gating a skim of £22,746,524, and we have in. hand more than the entire premimtns paM by all the members now On the books of the society. I have no hesitation in saying that there is no other cffice, living or dead, which cam show or has shown stich a tph«nom'>nal record as this.

The Hoto. Edward Richards :»n, C.'M.G.. supported the a'dqpticm of the report. In supporting the report now placed before you I would lilce to give you a few items edtrnqcted with the business of the New Zealand branch of the society, the local Board of which I have the honour to represent on this occasion. Our new business, although somewhat below that, of last year, has 'beetti o! a most satisfactory nature. It consisted of 2253 policies, assuring £620,650, with anewa 'new annual revenue of £21,007 8s sd— 4o this has to be a'ddrcl single 'premiums amounting to .£5705 Ms 7d, making together total new premiupis of £2(5,713 3s. The society has now an its New Zealand register 31,889 (policies, assuring £8,028,156, with an an'rrual premium income of £277,658 8s 7d. to which asddtho annual 'income from interest aimaUnting to £176,120 8s 2d, moAAng a total aniiiual income of £'153,778 His &1, boin^ thf work of 33 A }-car^. The total accumulated funds of the bramfch at the 31st December last wore £3,796,675, being an increase to tihiat of the previous year of £272,263. Of the total ftrnds £2,1J6,387 a>re lent omt on mryrtg-age of -freehold im'Oipca - tie», aivd thU item of ttivestmont ccmtiniics to bo of a most satisfactory nal^ure, for the value of the secmritios malde by our own valuators is more tlh-an dm»ble that lent on thorn, and lihea-e is not one of them which calluses iis anxiety. In connection with tihis branch of our business, it will ha gratifying to yoju to hr told that every pan ay of interest due on tiris «Vast siimi is i>aid. In all those material points which tend to show {progress in a life ctflice your New Zealand branch stanjds in a most safisfate-tiory pn.^itio-n. Its claims were lighter tihati last year ; the net iiw3rea.se after decluctioii of ■till void business was "<rpater in tihe wum assured ; the rato of intrrcst n-alisod on its fauuls sihows an increase ; the ratio of axjpiinKcs of maiiag'onnMit was less anld t'ho alverage policy was higher. With siic?h cotn,ditio'ns existing, I am sure we halve reason to be proud, anld no one is more so than Mr Lowe, youir Resident Secretary, aaVd Iris stalfV. 1 dio not thindt I need weary veil with any more figures, but will cofntalvide by stating- tha( the prosparity of New Zealand continues unabated, aiid so far as we can looJc into tyho livttare, (hciv does not aipfK'ar to ha aniytlhitng in ,vif»w which is likely to stojp tih'at progress for whicih the colony has Leen celebrated for so many years.