Forgive a dumb question, jpd - but do Quinn LIfe actually provide life insurance?Life insurance companies invest the premiums they receive and use the income from these investments to pay claims and eventually shareholders.
I haven't read or analysed QL accounts but it would not be unusual for a life insurance company to make profits or losses on investments.
However, there are rules governing the types of investments insurance companies can hold - mostly, the bulk of their investment would be in Government Bonds or liquid instruments.
The fact that they made a loss on a realised investment might even be seen as a good thing - they ditched a bad investment before the loss was even greater.
Yes, but in either of these cases, wouldn't the loss have been to the fund (and passed directly back to investors in the fund) and not a loss to the company itself?However, they do provide their own managed funds. It is very common for fund managers to sell certain equities for various reasons even at a loss, most often to re-balance the the fund.
It is also possible that a company they were invested in went bankrupt. As an example I would imagine that their Celtic fund at one time held Anglo shares, which of course would have been written off as a loss at some stage.
Yes, but in either of these cases, wouldn't the loss have been to the fund (and passed directly back to investors in the fund) and not a loss to the company itself?