2010 Report and Accounts
Foreword from Graeme McAusland, Chief Executive of The
Children’s Mutual
Welcome to the 130th Report and Accounts from The
Children’s Mutual.
The past year has been a challenging one for
our Society. The Government’s withdrawal of the Child Trust Fund
has challenged us to review our plans for the future and ensure we
continue to act in the best interests of members and
policyholders. From the moment we were founded in 1881, we’ve
put family’s futures at the heart of our business and this remains
our core focus going forward.
In 2010, despite the changes brought upon us,
we increased the number of customers at the Group to over 1.1
million, grew funds under management to £1.43 billion and secured
more than 145,000 new Child Trust Fund customers.
With education costs set to spiral as
university tuition fees rise to £9,000 per year and first-home
deposits continuing to be out of the reach for many youngsters, we
believe we must continue to help our customers and members save for
their offspring to create brighter futures for families.
Our 900,000 Child Trust Fund customers have a
unique product and opportunity to save for the future and we
have been working hard with them to encourage them to make the most
of the opportunity. This has resulted in an additional £10
million a month being saved in to the accounts and the average
direct debit for a Child Trust Fund account increasing to £27 a
month – up from £24 at this time last year. More people are
saving more money than ever before. These are amounts which
could significantly change the lives of the Child Trust Fund
generation and their families as they grow up.
It is clear that now that, more than ever,
there remains a market for saving for children. We believe it
is imperative that families be offered the most suitable products
for their children’s futures and while it is unlikely that the
future holds a better product than the Child Trust Fund, we have
been working closely with the Government on its consultation for
the Junior ISA. We will decide this year as to how we will enter
this new market.
To ensure that we offer the most suitable
products for families we also have decided to no longer sell
with-profits savings plans. Demand has declined over time to the
point where it is not longer in the interests of the Society and
its members to offer them as the cost of acquiring ever decreasing
numbers of clients is becoming uneconomic.
We continue to invest in the development of
products and services that add value to the families who save with
us. A notable success this year has been our TCMcashback
site, where smart families are logging on to earn cashback and
discounts on purchases from brands including Toys‘r’us, the Early
Learning Centre, John Lewis and Asda.
We have also developed a new financial plan
which we hope will over time see eligible members benefiting from a
distribution of surplus assets in the funds. Finally, with
the Government having just announced a potential increase in the
amount that can be saved into a Child Trust Fund, we will be
helping our customers maximise this opportunity for their family’s
benefit.
We have a fantastic team in place which
continues to work hard on your behalf, adding value to the Society
by helping families secure their financial futures.
Graeme McAusland
You can print or view the latest copy of our Report and Accounts
by clicking on the link below. Members who register to attend our
AGM or participate in the proxy vote by post will receive
a copy of the Report and Accounts prior to the
Meeting.
Alternatively you may request a copy by emailing us
at aboutus@thechildrensmutual.co.uk
or writing to:
The Society Secretary
The Children's Mutual
Brockbourne House
77 Mount Ephraim
Tunbridge Wells
Kent TN4 8GN
2010 Full Report and Statement of
Accounts
PDF
, 608
KB
(opens in a new window)
Previous Report and Accounts
2009 Full Report and Statement of
Accounts
PDF
,
1,511
KB
(opens in a new window)
2008 Full Report and Statement of
Accounts
PDF
, 754
KB
(opens in a new window)
2007 Full Report and Statement of
Accounts
PDF
, 776
KB
(opens in a new window)
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