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Royal London Group

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Royal London Group
Company typeMutual Society
IndustryFinancial services
Founded1861; 163 years ago (1861)
Headquarters
London
,
England, UK
Key people
Barry O'Dwyer[1] (Chief Executive)
ProductsLife assurance, Investment management, Pensions
Revenue£ 7.37 billion (FY 2017)[2]
AUM£169 billion (2024) [3]
Websitewww.royallondon.com

The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Limited, along with its subsidiaries, is the largest mutual insurer and investment company in the United Kingdom, and in the top 30 mutuals globally, with Group funds under management of £169 billion, as of March 2024.[4] Group businesses provide 8.5 million policies and employ over 4,400 people, as of June 2024.[5]

Group

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Royal London is the largest mutual life, pensions and investment company in the UK, while also providing protection products in Ireland.

Offices

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Royal London is registered in England with its head office in the City of London. It has other large offices in Alderley Park and Edinburgh, with smaller offices in Glasgow, Dublin, Lichfield & Liverpool.

History

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Triton Court (formerly Royal London House) in Finsbury Square: erstwhile headquarters of the Royal London Friendly Society and its successors.

Founded in 1861 by Joseph Degge and Henry Ridge in a London coffee shop, Royal London was initially set up as a friendly society dedicated to serving the interest of its members and securing their financial security. Royal London became a mutual life assurance society in 1908.

Other elements of the modern business are older than the primary brand: for example Royal Liver Assurance was founded in 1850, while the Irish business, until recently branded as Caledonian Life dates back to 1824, and represents the Caledonian Insurance Company founded in Edinburgh in 1805.

Royal London Asset Management (RLAM) a wholly owned subsidiary of the group was founded in 1988. RLAM employs 76 investment professionals, based in the company's London office.

Sponsorship

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In 2013, Royal London signed a four-year deal to sponsor one day cricket in England and Wales, including domestic and international fixtures.

Acquisitions

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The Kimpton Clocktower Hotel (originally The Refuge Assurance Building) at the corner of Oxford Street and Whitworth Street in Manchester, the building was designed for the Refuge Assurance Company by Alfred Waterhouse and built 1891–1895.[6]

On 31 December 2000 Royal London took over United Assurance Group plc. The transaction was the largest acquisition of a quoted UK company by a mutual. United Assurance Group itself had been formed by the merger of United Friendly and Refuge Assurance in October 1996.

On 2 October 2000 it was announced that Royal London would acquire Scottish Life, the Edinburgh-based pension specialist. Transfer took place on 1 July 2001.

In March 2003 Royal London launched a new start up protection business, Bright Grey based in Edinburgh.

In May 2008 Royal London concluded a transaction to acquire the open businesses of Resolution. These were the protection businesses Scottish Provident and Scottish Mutual; Phoenix Life Assurance Limited (formerly Abbey National Life) and Scottish Provident International.

At the beginning of 2009 the offshore businesses Scottish Provident International and Scottish Life International were combined to form a new entity, Royal London 360° based in the Isle of Man. This business was subject to a management buyout in November 2013.[7] Royal London 360° rebranded to RL360° soon after the MBO.[8]

In 2010 Royal London announced that it was in talks with Royal Liver Assurance over a possible acquisition. Terms were agreed in 2011 and the delegates of Royal Liver voted for the takeover at their AGM on 12 May 2011 and the transfer was completed on 1 July.

In 2013 The Co-operative Group agreed to sell its life & pensions and asset management businesses to Royal London. The proposed transaction gained the approval of Royal London members at an EGM in June 2013 and gained regulatory approval on 31 July 2013.

In 2015 Caledonian Life, the group’s Irish business rebranded to become Royal London Ireland.

At the end of 2015, Royal London completed the rebrand of its two UK protection businesses, Bright Grey and Scottish Provident to a new Royal London protection brand. This completed the group’s journey to become a single Royal London brand.

In 2020 Royal London purchased Police Mutual and Forces Mutual.[9]

References

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  1. ^ "New Chief Executive Barry O'Dwyer joins Royal London". Royal London. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  2. ^ "Strategic Report with Supplementary Information 2017" (PDF). Royal London Group. 9 April 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  3. ^ "UK".
  4. ^ "About RLAM".
  5. ^ "Royal London - Our History".
  6. ^ Former Refuge Assurance Company Offices, Heritage Gateway, retrieved 24 October 2009
  7. ^ Armstrong, Ashley (5 November 2013). "Royal London sells offshore wealth unit 360°". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  8. ^ RL360°. "A new era for RL360°". www.rl360.com. RL360°. Retrieved 26 January 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Austin, Amy (1 October 2020). "Royal London adds Police Mutual to business 360°". ftadviser.com. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
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