Profits rose $3.7 million from the 2013 financial year figure to $19.7 million for the year ended 30 June 2014.
ClearView reported in its results announcement on the ASX website that in-force life insurance premiums had grown to approximately $87.5 million at 30 June 2014, an increase of 41 per cent from the prior year.
New risk premiums for life insurance also rose by 41 per cent from the previous corresponding period, up to $27.4 million for the year ending 30 June 2014.
ClearView said the increases were achieved off the back of the firm’s LifeSolutions product and the “restructure of direct distribution in financial year 2014”.
The life insurance and wealth management industry also reported claims experience profit was $1.1 million after tax, with the cost of claims lower than expected.
This was in contrast to the 2013 financial year which saw a negative claims experience of $1.9 million.
ClearView managing director Simon Swanson said the outlook for the wealth management industry has improved due to buoyant investment markets.
The performance of investment markets, however, masks “underlying adverse trends across the industry” including “fee and margin compression across the industry as the higher priced in-force black books run off”, he said.
“This is likely to continue across the industry given heightened consumer awareness of the costs inherent in historic fee structures, the increased price competition given the regulatory focus and super account consolidation leading to lower fee rates overall.”
Mr Swanson said the time and cost of compliance, coupled with significant regulatory change, continues to “adversely impact the industry”.
ClearView will respond to these developments by ensuring its platform is cost efficient and caters over time to the broader needs of its superannuation customers, he said.
ClearView’s chair, Gary Weiss, announced in the results that ClearView will be investing further in the development of its wealth platform over the next 12 months.
The platform, Mr Weiss said, is targeted at the pre-retirement market and will bring “significant insurance cross-sell opportunities”.
“Once launched, ClearView will then have both a solid financial adviser life and wealth product suite to build on and expand in future,” he said.
