LV= Asset Management Equities Team Celebrates Year of Strong Performance

CROYDON, England, Sept. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- One year after joining LV= Asset Management (LVAM), the fund management arm of mutual insurance and investment group, LV=, Graham Ashby and his team are celebrating an impressive set of numbers for both the LV= UK Equity Income Fund and LV= UK Growth Fund.

Graham joined from Credit Suisse and has been the lead manager of the LV= UK Equity Income Fund since 1 September 2009. During the year to 31 August 2010, LV= UK Equity Income Fund returned 12.18% versus a FTSE All Share Index figure of 10.57% and an IMA UK Equity Income sector average of 8.22%, marking it as 1st Quartile and 6th Percentile*.

Under the stewardship of Michael Crawford, an experienced manager who has worked with Graham for over 10 years, LV= UK Growth Fund returned a much improved performance of 9.29% against the FTSE All Share Index's 10.57% and an IMA UK All Companies sector average of 8.62%*.

Graham and Michael also brought Marcus Chandler and Mira Bhogaita with them from Credit Suisse. Together with long-standing LVAM fund manager Chris Price, they make up LVAM's UK Equities team.

The UK equity portfolios have a 'backbone' of stocks which have a proven record in creating value for shareholders and where fundamental analysis indicates that these high returns are sustainable.

The team also believes that UK equity portfolios should also be diversified in absolute rather than relative terms. As a result, they seek to ensure adequate diversification by limiting the exposure to individual stocks and adopting a 'benchmark aware' rather than a 'benchmark driven' approach to portfolio construction.

Recently, in response to demand, LVAM has moved to a quarterly income distribution for the LV= UK Equity Income Fund, which helps with clients' cash flow and is also in line with the trend for UK companies to pay dividends quarterly; an institutional income share class has also been added.

In July this year, LV= UK Equity Income Fund received a Standard & Poor's 'A' rating and in addition, both Graham Ashby and Michael Crawford are 'A' rated by Citywire.

Graham Ashby, head of UK Equities, commented: "My long-held view is that careful bottom-up stock selection combined with sensible portfolio construction will deliver results for investors. We have more than begun to show this over the past year and I am confident that by continuing to combine conviction investing with risk awareness we will provide a winning long-term formula for clients of LV= UK Equity Income Fund and LV= UK Growth Fund."

Notes to editors:

*Source: Lipper Hindsight. Bid to Bid with income net of UK tax reinvested. Retail share class shown. Competitor sector used: IMA UK Equity Income. Benchmark index: FTSE All Share Index.

About LV=

LV= is a registered trademark of Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society Limited (LVFS) and a trading style of the Liverpool Victoria group of companies.

LV= offers a range of insurance products including home insurance, car insurance, life insurance, pet insurance and over 50 life insurance.

LV= employs around 4,000 people, serves over 3.8m customers and members, and manages around 9.5bn pounds Sterling (as at 30 June 2010) on their behalf, via LV= Asset Management (LVAM). LV= is also the UK's largest friendly society and a leading mutual financial services provider.

LVFS is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority, register number 110035. LVFS is a member of the ABI, the AFM and ILAG. Registered address: County Gates, Bournemouth BH1 2NF.

SOURCE LV=