Royal London has today officially announced its entry into the UK’s bulk purchase annuity market.
The firm has assembled a team of 40, led by Director of BPA Solutions, Paul Bowker, which has been involved in hundreds of buy-ins and buyouts from small to multi-billion-pound deals, with experience across a range of bulk annuity providers and consultancies.
Today’s announcement marks the latest stage in the development of Royal London’s BPA proposition, which has included transacting a £25m full scheme buy-in policy with the Trustee of the Royal Liver UK Pension Scheme in November 2023, and a further £350m buy-in policy in January 2024 to insure a subset of members in the Royal London Group Pension Scheme.
In July the group successfully transacted with its first external pension scheme, securing a £30m full scheme buy-in, followed by a further £100m transaction with another external pension scheme in September.
“With an increasing number of pension schemes looking to meet their de-risking objectives, it’s an important time to be providing a mutual choice. Royal London is the only mutual in the BPA market, and we believe that will be a very attractive proposition for many trustees. We’re off to a strong start as we continue to focus on establishing a reputation as an insurer of choice for trustees and their advisers,” said Barry O’Dwyer, Group Chief Executive Officer at Royal London.
“We have invested significantly to build a compelling bulk annuity offering for trustees and their members. They will be able to partner with a well-known mutual brand with proven financial strength, in the confidence we only have their members’, and all our customers’ interests, at the core of our long-term decision making,” said Bowker.
“We will be building on our strong customer service credentials and delivering our BPA administration in-house to ensure we deliver the highest standards of service.”
