Pensions sales drive strong third quarter results for Royal London
Royal London Group – the UK’s largest mutual life and investment company – posted strong third-quarter results yesterday, with pensions sales up 39 per cent year-on-year.
Group pension sales were a key driver for company’s positive results, up 101 per cent to £1.72bn from the third quarter of last year. Individual pensions and drawdown sales expanded 22 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively, year-on-year.
The group’s asset management arm, Royal London Asset Management, also performed well, achieving a 10 per cent rise in net new external business compared to last year’s third quarter.
Chief executive Phil Loney said: “I am pleased and encouraged by these results: new business performance of our individual pensions is particularly pleasing given that automatic enrolment is reducing the total size of this market. The fact that we have retained and grown market share underlines the competitiveness of our pensions proposition.”
Earlier this year, Loney called on the Financial Conduct Authority to tighten the rules on advice offered to people on their retirement, saying the government’s guarantee of guidance, outlined in the Budget in March, did not go far enough.