Levis, Que.-based Desjardins Financial Security (DFS) announced on Wednesday that it posted net income of $504.5 million for the year ended Dec. 31, up 12.5% over 2015.

This was the first time that annual net income surpassed half a billion dollars, DFS says in a statement.

Also in 2016, gross insurance premium sales reached $4 billion for the first time in the company’s history, which translates as a 3% jump in growth over 2015.

Insurance sales grew by 4.5%, peaking at $470.8 million compared to $450.6 million in 2015.

Assets under management and administration were up by $50.7 billion as at Dec. 31, reaching $96.5 billion.

“We’re very happy with these results, particularly the major growth we’ve seen in net income and gross insurance premiums, which hit record highs this year,” says Gregory Chrispin, president and chief operating officer of DFS.

At the end of the 2016, total sales in the savings sector had skyrocketed to $13.1 billion, $2 billion more than in 2015, which represents growth of 544.4%. Individual savings recorded total sales of $407.4 million.

In group insurance, the volume of premiums from groups and businesses and from plans offered through financial institutions, including the Desjardins caisses, stood at $3.1 billion, compared to $3 billion at the end of 2015.

Insurance sales for groups and businesses rose to $186.5 million, representing 14.3% growth over 2015. Sales for plans offered in financial institutions stood at $203.8 million.

The volume of individual insurance premiums grew by 5.6%, totalling $898.8 million, and surpassing 2015’s $851.0 million.

In 2016, total sales recorded by the financial security advisors assigned to Desjardins caisses and by the SFL network, DFS Independent Network and the State Farm network hit $80.5 million, topping the previous year’s total sales of $77.2 million.

DFS, a subsidiary of financial co-operative Desjardins Group, specializes in life insurance, health insurance and retirement savings.