ICMIF member Royal London (UK) announced earlier this month that it had delivered good growth in new business in workplace pensions which was driven by employers increasingly valuing the benefit as a key way of supporting their employees’ financial wellbeing. In the first half of 2023, Royal London welcomed 479 new workplace pension scheme employers and over 120,000 new workplace pension customers, supporting them in planning and saving for the future.

This announcement formed part of the mutual’s interim results for 2023 which were shared on 4 August 2023.

Commenting on the results, Barry O’Dwyer (pictured), Group Chief Executive said: “In the first half of 2023 we delivered good growth in workplace pensions new business and our net inflows increased 25% to over GBP 3.2 billion. This growth, alongside our continued cost discipline, has helped to deliver a 16% increase in operating profit.

“As many of our customers continue to come to terms with the increased cost of living and higher interest rates, our priority has been to help them navigate these challenges, while building their long-term financial resilience. In April, we shared GBP 155 million in ProfitShare with over 2 million members, and the 120,000 new workplace pensions customers we have welcomed since the start of the year all became members and are eligible for future ProfitShare allocations.

“Our success in workplace pensions is driven by employers increasingly valuing the benefit as a key way of supporting their employees’ financial wellbeing. As a result, they are choosing to partner with digital first providers with a strong sense of purpose. As more and more employers adopt this view, mutuals, like Royal London, will be a natural choice. Our mutual mindset of continually focusing on delivering positive enduring change for our customers and wider society ensures they, and employers and advisers, continue to place their trust in us.”

Other highlights of Royal London’s interim results are:

• Royal London’s financial wellbeing health check was launched at the end of 2022, and the mutual introduced a new state benefits calculator to the service this year, enabling customers to identify potential eligibility for circa GBP 3.75m per annum in benefits, entitlements and grants.
• Paid 99.1% (FY22: 99.4%) of protection claims in the first half of year, paying GBP 343m (H1 2022: GBP 304m) supporting over 39,000 customers and their families through life shocks.
• The flagship Governed Range attracted net inflows of GBP 1.7bn (H1 2022: GBP 1.5bn), with assets under management (AUM) reaching GBP 56bn.
• Reached an agreement with Aegon UK to acquire its closed individual protection book of over 400,000 policies, increasing the number of protection policies that Royal London looks after to over 1.5 million, further strengthening its position in the UK protection market.
• Supported financial advisers in meeting their Consumer Duty requirements through a dedicated online hub, interactive webinars and account support.
• Royal London Asset Management continued to focus on diversifying investment strategies and driving international growth, successfully securing its first client mandates in Japan.
• Investment performance of actively managed funds over three years remains strong despite difficult market conditions, with 95% of funds outperforming their three-year benchmark (H1 2022: 80%).
• Through its social impact strategy, Royal London announced a new GBP 1.2m partnership with Cancer Research UK focused on tackling cancer inequalities.