A fall in underwriting in the commercial general insurance market for the second year in a row has left Centrepoint Alliance's specialist premium funding business reliant on cost savings to increase earnings.Centrepoint Alliance is better known as a provider of support services to financial planners but its finance division, Centrepoint Lending, is a specialist lender offering finance for insurance premiums. Customers are mostly small and medium businesses and distribution is through insurance brokers.Centrepoint Lending provided 29,023 loans to fund A$377 million of premiums during the year to June. While the number of loans was up two per cent on the previous year, the value of premiums funded was down two per cent.The average loan value has fallen for two consecutive years. Industry data shows a six per cent fall in commercial insurance premiums in 2015.The company said it worked on its pricing, funding costs and expense management. In July it entered into a new facility agreement, with a reduction in borrowing costs.Lending revenue rose eight per cent to $12.3 million and pre-tax profit rose 22 per cent to $2.5 million.The company said it expected further efficiencies in the current year after introducing a number of technology enhancements.It increased its active broker numbers from 382 in 2014/15 to 423 last financial year.The lending division also provides mortgage aggregation services to brokers. It wrote $712 million of new home loans during the year - three per cent down on the previous year.