Royal London almost trebled its new protection sales in the first half of the year thanks to soaring interest in high-net-worth and inheritance tax-related products.
The mutual also highlighted a “buoyant” protection market.
Royal London completed £30m of new business in the first six months of the year – up 172.7% on the previous year, according to interim results.
The new business contribution from its protection division rose to £30m from £11m in H1 2024 at a new business margin of 6.7%, which was up from 2.9% in the corresponding period of last year.
The mutual attributed the growth to increased volumes and a favourable product mix, including continued success in the mortgage-related market.
“The momentum we built in 2024 has continued with growth in volumes across our whole-of-life propositions and more cases within the high net-worth market,” Royal London said.
It noted that it had expanded its proposition to support estate planning needs.
This included the launch of a joint life second death term product in late 2024 which, alongside its whole-of-life offering saw “strong” demand following the proposed changes to inheritance tax announced in the October Budget.
On a present value of new business premiums (PVNBP) terms, protection sales rose 14% to £455m from £399m in H1 2024.
Ireland protection business up
Over in Ireland, protection new business sales were also up 50% to £9m from £6m in the first half of last year,
However new business margin decreased to 3.8% from 4.3% in H1 2024, reflecting changes in business mix, the insurer said.
On PVNBP terms sales increased to £94m from £90m.
Group profit up
Overall operating profit before tax increased by 15% to £166m from £144m in H1 2024 benefiting from higher new business from the protection arm and sales of the mutual’s bulk purchase annuity (BPA) which launched in September 2024, Royal London said.
Barry O’Dwyer, group chief executive officer at Royal London, (pictured) said: “Our new bulk purchase annuity offering, the only mutual option in the market, is resonating well with trustees and advisers as we completed eight buy-in transactions in the first half of this year.
“Support from financial advisers has meant our governed range attracted £1.6bn of net inflows in the first half of the year. This range offers valuable diversification for customers amid market volatility with allocations to assets such as real estate and commodities.
“The recently announced acquisition of Dalmore Capital will also provide access for governed range customers to the long-term, stable returns that infrastructure investments can offer.
“When most of our competitors perform well, they reward their shareholders with higher dividends.
“Royal London is a mutual with no shareholders so when we perform well, our eligible customers benefit through ProfitShare. In April, we demonstrated the value of mutuality by sharing £181m with 2.3 million customers through our ProfitShare scheme.”
