New offshore bond sales hold up better than UK counterparts

According to the ABI's long-term business data for Q1 2009, new sales of offshore single premium accumulation and protection products, including investment bonds and personal bonds, declined by 42.6% from 1,896 in Q4 2008, to 986 in Q1 2009. This compares favourably with onshore investment and savings, including bonds, which plummeted by 58.3%, albeit from a higher base of 3,772 in Q4 2008 to 3,032 in Q1 2009. Richard Leeson, head of UK business development at Prudential International, believes the sale of new onshore bonds may actually have fallen by as much as 64%. According to Lee...