City investors pocket £36m: Wesleyan fund issues its largest-ever bonus as pandemic recovery kicks in
Wesleyan, a specialist financial mutual for doctors, dentists and teachers, told Morning Wire this morning it has distributed its largest ever bonus.
The announcement came as it published its financial results for 2021.
The society said it retained its financial strength over the year meaning it was in a position to distribute the mutual bonus of £36m among Wesleyan investors in its flagship With Profits Open Fund, representing a 1 per cent uplift on investments.
The Fund delivered a competitive 12.7 per cent return in 2021, the firm disclosed.
Pandemic recovery
Mario Mazzocchi, Wesleyan Group’s chief executive, called 2021 “a landmark year.”
“We celebrated our 180th anniversary. and we got the business back to profitability after the difficult trading conditions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic,” Mazzocchi said.
He told Morning Wire that the firm “increased our capital strength and shared the benefits of this by distributing excess surplus through a mutual bonus of £36m to Wesleyan investors in our With Profits Open Fund.”
“We will continue to implement our strategy of sustainable growth over the coming years,” he added.
The group delivered a £6.1m operating profit as a result of new business volumes and a managed reduction in expenses. This comes on the back of a £18.6m operating loss in 2020 due to the difficult trading conditions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Assets under Management rose by 8 per cent to £8.5bn from £7.9bn benefitting from new business income and improved investment returns.
The Wesleyan Foundation donated £1m to good causes linked to its professional customers and the UK’s recovery from Covid-19, the firm told Morning Wire