The Co-operative Insurance Society have recently announced their new bonus rates for with profits policies. As with other companies who have declared, the trend is downwards. CIS have cut ongoing bonus rates and also final maturity values (also known as terminal bonuses). Ongoing bonuses for pension policies have been cut from 3.25% to 2.5% on the policy itself and from 3.9% to 3% on existing bonuses already attached to the policy. Ongoing bonuses for other policies have been cut from 2.4% to 2% on the policy itself and from 3% to 2.5% on existing bonuses already attached to the policy.
A CIS spokesperson said that "the reduction in annual bonus rates is a reflection of the reduced expectation for investment returns in the future".