Mutual Benefits We're Mutual - we only work for you
UK financial organisations are all authorised by the Financial Services Authority and are either "mutuals" or public limited companies (PLCs). Mutual organisations are not owned by external shareholders (like a PLC) but work for, and only answer to, coustomers like you.
Experience and Scale
Mutuals typically have over 100 years of experience and heritage in providing for the savings and protection needs of their customers (and some have been around a lot longer). They manage over £95bn in assets and have 20 million customers.
Trust
The managers of mutuals are only responsible to customers like you, and not to shareholders. Research also shows that, on average, mutual customers are more likely to recommend a mutual organisation than a PLC.
Greater Potential Value
Research by the Association of Financial Mutuals shows that in 2009 PLC insurers paid out on average 3p to shareholders for every £1 invested by their customers. With no shareholders to pay, mutuals can ensure that their profits are only distributed to customers like you, or reinvested to give you better returns, better value and higher levels of service.
Better Service
With higher levels of customer satisfaction according to independent surveys, staff in mutuals seem to want to try that bit harder when their customers can also be the owners of the organisation they work for.
To find out more, go to the Association of Financial Mutuals website.
