The seventy-third annual meeting of the Standard was one which offered occasion for many well-deserved expressions of satisfaction and mutual approval between the officials of the company, the shareholders, and the policyholders.
In 1895 the Standard nearly touched an amount of new business accepted, for £2,000,000 sterling, but in 1898 it passed the line, and issued 4,937 policies for £2,058, 103, the annual premiums on which were £80,798, The maintenance by the Standard of this volume of business, and even the increase thereof, is one more proof, of the virility of British life insurance. Incidentally, it shows the beneficial rather than the detrimental effect of foreign competition. The largest number of policies, the largest amount of new premiums, and the largest amount of new assurances issued, makes a record year in the history of the Standard. The alrendy large premium income is once more augmented, and shows net increase on the year of £31,009, and stands now at £820,319.
The difficulty of finding; ments suitable to investors is shown in a, marked degree by the fact that investors resorted tothe Standard last year, with £162,380 thei the purchase of an-1 £39,000 more than in We must expect endowments and ities to be developed, in proportion to difficulty of making other investments. The funds increased during the year by £324,000, bringing them up to a net sum of £9,180,551, the total revenue of the Standard being, for the year, £1,168,368.
'There seems' very little to add to this splendid report, except (us we have reniatked elsewhere) that British government securities are not sought after now with any excessive ardour by the Standard any wore than by any other office. Consols are no longer worth investing in at all. The Standard has undoubtedly increased its holding, but in nothing like the same proportion'as it has its veneral mass of new business, income, assets, ete. £88,701 modestly represents British government securi Loans on the company's policies seem a very desirable form of investment, and this is represented by £442,700, mortgay being represented by some £5,250,000 sterling, whilst ground rents and feu clu ties with life rents and reversions purchased, figure for £270,000, on which there is bound to be considerable profit in time come. The investments of the Standard are what might rewonably be expected, and the position of the office appears to be unexceptionable in every direction. Anneed will he found a few extracts from the directors' report.
Progress of the business reported at the the seventy-third annual general meeting of the company, held at Edinburgh Tuesday, the 25th of April, 1899:—The manager submitted to the meeting the report by the directors on the progress of the business for the past year; report on the books and accounts by the professional auditor of the company; balance-sheet of company's affairs, certified by the auditor and three of the directors, in accordance
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.