Bank of Ireland Life

Hi, I am looking to put some of my savings into bonds and shares. I have a current account with BOI and am meeting with a BOI Life employee next week to discuss options. This may seem like a stupid question - is dealing with BOI Life very different from banking with BOI i.e, in the event of the bank going under, a depreciation in the value of currency, etc. are my savings in stocks and bonds as safe (from said shocks) as they would be if I had dealt through a stockbroker.

What I am basically asking is if dealing through BOI life pretty much the same as through a stockbroker. And whether a collapse in the bank or currency would more adversely effect my invested savings being through BOI LIfe rather than a separate non-banking entity.

I'm sorry if this sounds silly to people.

You should be aware that if you're meeting a Bank of Ireland Life employee, you're meeting someone who can only sell you the products of Bank of Ireland Life, a life assurance company (a trading name of New Ireland Assurance). So the comparison with a stockbroker isn't really appropriate here.

S/he won't be able to advise you on buying shares or bonds, although s/he might sell you one of their unit-linked funds which itself invests in shares or bonds.

That said, investments in a life assurance company are asset-backed, i.e. if you invest €10,000 in a life assurance company product, the company must have €10,000 in assets to back that investment, plus an additional solvency margin. Although part of the Bank of Ireland Group, New Ireland / Bank of Ireland Life is a separate trading company, so a collapse of Bank of Ireland should not affect the life assurance company, the assets of which are ring-fenced. As it happens, Bank of Ireland are trying to sell the life insurance company at the moment.

LDFerguson said:

As it happens, Bank of Ireland are trying to sell the life insurance company at the moment.

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This is because that have been instructed to dispose of these entities.

There are enough queies on AAM concerning problems with investing with these companies. Unless you like paying over near 2% of you funds, whether up or down, of your investment in Management Fees, plus sales fees plus other costs, look elsewhere.

Depending on the amounts you intend to invest try another type of product from a different provider.

Alternatively, ETFs are similar products, but with a different cost base.