Scottish Friendly Assurance is a financial services group based in Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, Scotland. The group provides investors with a wide range of tax-free investment and life insurance products and whole-of- market open architecture ‘wrap’ investments.

History

Scottish Friendly Assurance has its roots stretching back to 1862. Established as the City of Glasgow Friendly Society, its name changed in October 1992 after it purchased Scottish Friendly Assurance, a friendly society

Friendly society

A friendly society is a mutual association for insurance, pensions or savings and loan-like purposes, or cooperative banking. It is a mutual organization or benefit society composed of a body of people who join together for a common financial or social purpose...

.

Scottish Friendly has continued its merger and acquisition activity and took over Scottish Legal Life in October 2007 , Rational Shelley in 2005, Preston Operative in 2006 , Pioneer Friendly and London Aberdeen & Northern Mutual Assurance Society (LANMAS) in 2007 .

Operations

The group currently manages and administers over £3.8 billion in assets and has over 400,000 members. As a Mutual company Scottish Friendly Assurance has no shareholders and profits are distributed back to its members.

Scottish Friendly Assurance is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority

Financial Services Authority

The Financial Services Authority is a quasi-judicial body responsible for the regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom. Its board is appointed by the Treasury and the organisation is structured as a company limited by guarantee and owned by the UK government. Its main...

 (FSA) and is a member of ABI

ABI

ABI is an acronym or abbreviation that may refer to:* Abilene Regional Airport , in Abilene, Texas, United States* Abitur* AbiWord* Acquired brain injury* Agencia Boliviana de Información, a Bolivian press agency...

 and AFM

AFM

- Organizations :* Africa Fighting Malaria, a health campaign in Africa* Alex von Falkenhausen Motorenbau, a German racing car constructor* American Federation of Motorcyclists, a road racing club in the United States...

.

Companies

The Scottish Friendly group is structured as an incorporated mutual friendly society, Scottish Friendly Assurance Society Limited, which issues all insurance products, with three subsidiaries:

Scottish Friendly Asset Management provides Scottish Friendly Investment Funds ICVC, an umbrella OEIC, as well as ISA

Individual Savings Account

An Individual Savings Account is a financial product available to residents in the United Kingdom. It is designed for the purpose of investment and savings with a favourable tax status. Money is contributed from after tax income and not subjected to income tax or capital gains tax within a holding...

 and CTF

Child Trust Fund

A Child Trust Fund is a long-term savings or investment account for children in the United Kingdom. New accounts cannot be created but existing accounts can receive new money...

 wrappers.

Scottish Friendly Insurance Services provides open architecture wrap services and non-insured regulated investment-dealing activities such as SIPPs

Self-invested personal pension

A Self-Invested Personal Pension is the name given to the type of UK-government-approved personal pension scheme, which allows individuals to make their own investment decisions from the full range of investments approved by HM Revenue & Customs ....

 and direct holdings.

Scottish Friendly Trustee Company Ltd provides asset-holding services for the Scottish Friendly Self Invested Personal Pension Scheme.

Management Team

Fiona McBain MA, ACA - Chief Executive.

Jim Galbraith BSc, MBA, FFA - Deputy Chief Executive.

Neil Lovatt ACII, BA (Hons), MSc - Sales and Marketing Director.

Community Support

Scottish Friendly is involved in the supporting reading and literacy in remote and disadvantaged areas in Scotland through its sponsorship of The Scottish Friendly Children’s Book Tour, an outreach tour organised by Scottish Book Trust

Scottish Book Trust

The Scottish Book Trust is a national organisation based in Edinburgh, Scotland for the promotion of literature, reading and writing in Scotland...

.

Scottish Friendly has also become a supporter of the 'Meet Our Authors' programme , a programme created by the Scottish Book Trust to allow young people, parents and teachers to meet some of the world's leading children's authors.