Irish Life: Paradise Lost and Regained

Abstract

Irish Life & Permanent (IL&P) is the product of a merger of Irish Life Assurance and Irish Permanent in 1 999. This somewhat unusual combination brought together the largest life company in Ireland and the largest residential mortgage provider, both with shares in their respective markets of over 20 per cent. In April 2002, the further acquisition of TSB Bank and its merger with Irish Permanent created a full service retail banking operation in Ireland. We believe that Ireland with its strong and fast growing economy and attractive demographics offers tremendous opportunities for our business given our strong franchise and market shares. Our ambition is to become the number one provider of personal financial services in the Irish market and we are confident that, with the business model which we have created together with our singular focus on Ireland, we can achieve that ambition. This article focuses primarily on Irish Life and, in particular, the larger retail life business which has undergone rapid transformation and growth over the past few years.