Mortality of Assured Lives 1924–29 (Monetary Tables, Vol. I), p. 182. For ·01557 read ·01547 where P[33]:42 with 3½% interest is shown.

The subject of annuities is one which has rarely been discussed by this Institute and the two classic papers of modern times on the subject (Oakley, J.I.A. Vol. XLIII, p. 281 and Elderton and Oakley, J.I.A. Vol. LV, p. 211) deal very largely with the mortality aspect of the problem. Income Tax is also a subject which has received but scant attention in our literature, the most modern paper in the Journal being that by Faulks written in 1903 (J.I.A. Vol. xxxvIII, p. 297); a later paper was read in Edinburgh in 1922 (Barnett, T.F.A. Vol. IX, p. 65) but even this is quite out of date as regards annuities because the Finance Act of 1923, following the recommendations of the Colwyn Committee, introduced important new factors into the taxation of the annuity fund. Recknell's paper in J.S.S. (Vol. 11, p. 93) suffers from the same disadvantage, having been written in 1921.

In November 1927 I submitted to this Institute a paper on the place of ordinary stocks and shares in the investment of life assurance funds. The conclusions were drawn from an investigation of hypothetical investments made in 1912 of uniform amount in the equities of nine groups of companies and followed out during a period of fifteen years. A comparison was made with similar investments made in the fixed interest securities of the same groups of companies. The records showed clearly in favour of the equities both as to income during the fifteen years and as to capital values at the end of the term. It has been on my conscience for some time that the record is incomplete without the inclusion of the period of the world depression in industry and trade which followed soon after the close of the period selected.