Royal London in partnership search after record quarter

In its results, Royal London said there has been strong growth in new business through its existing corporate partnerships and is continuing to look for more partnership opportunities with corporate partners.

New life and pensions business rose 52% to £2.1bn, while group pensions saw an 86% rise to £959m, which Royal London attributed to advisers continuing to recommend its workplace proposition.

However Royal London's Group Chief Executive said he anticipates a "slowing momentum" in the coming quarters with premiums dropping as more smaller employers enrol their workforces into a pension.

Individual Pensions sales were up 29%, Income Drawdown new business rose 19%, and Protection Intermediary new business sales were up 37% to £147m on the same period last year.

Consumer new business sales increased by 179% to £67m due to increased sales of simple Term Assurance and Over 50s insurance.

Assets under management have grown by 4% in Q11 to £87.9bn.

Phil Loney, Group Chief Executive of Royal London, said:

“The first quarter of 2016 has repeated the record-breaking pattern established throughout 2015. While our pension propositions have been leading the way for some time it is good to see that our protection proposition in the intermediary market is now finding strong levels of support from advisers.  

"Our new consumer division which looks to bring real value to areas of the market where there has been little competition historically is now a significant source of new business in its own right. It focuses on simple products offering better value for money and fairer customer outcomes than our competitors. We continue to concentrate on a non-advised offering to customers who will not or do not utilise regulated financial advisers.    

"While new business growth remains robust I anticipate that Group Pensions will see a slowing of momentum in coming quarters. While we continue to bring on board large numbers of schemes, we anticipate that the average premium will be lower as more smaller employers enrol their workforces into a pension."