Canada Life with-profit policyholders may be offered £800 to £1,000 of free shares when the company goes public later this year.

As discussed in a previous Family Money column, those investors with unitised investment policies or pensions will not qualify for this share offer. Only those entitled to vote, or with-profit policyholders are legally considered owners of the mutual company and are therefore entitled to the shares. It is expected that almost 54,000 people will qualify for shares.