Royal London has reported strong growth in its protection business during 2025, with new business sales rising 17% to £991m.
The mutual said protection new business increased from £846m in 2024 to £991m last year, driven by enhancements to its proposition and growing market share in what it described as a buoyant market.
The update came as the provider reported wider growth across its pensions and investment operations, with assets under management in its Governed Range increasing to £83bn, up from £72bn the previous year. The fund range attracted net inflows of £2.6bn during the year.
Royal London also launched a stocks and shares ISA during the period, expanding its investment offering and giving individual and workplace pension customers additional options for medium to long-term savings.
The provider said customer satisfaction continued to improve, with 44% of customers rating the firm nine or 10 out of 10. This represents a rise of 12 points since the measure was introduced in 2020. Overall, 70% of customers now rate the firm seven or higher.
Elsewhere in the business, Royal London reported strong early activity in its bulk purchase annuity buy-in operation, completing 18 transactions in its first full year of trading and securing £1.3bn in premiums.
The mutual also expanded its private asset capabilities during the year through new fund launches and the acquisition of Dalmore Capital. The move is designed to allow customers invested in its Governed Range to access diversified returns from assets including property and infrastructure.
In its investment division, Royal London said 80% of actively managed funds outperformed their three-year benchmark on an equally weighted basis. On an assets under management-weighted basis, 51% of funds outperformed.
Internationally, its Irish business delivered protection and pensions new business sales of £488m, representing growth of 64% during the year.
The mutual also reported contributing £3.5m towards social impact initiatives in 2025, including extending its partnership with Turn2us, a charity working to address financial insecurity across the UK, for a further three years.
Barry O’Dwyer, Royal London’s group CEO, said: “We recorded another strong performance in 2025 with operating profits up 18%, reflecting the positive momentum across our business. This was supported by our first full year in the bulk purchase annuities market, where we secured a series of key transactions as trustees and advisers valued the stability and long-term commitment that a mutual can offer.
“Workplace Pensions are core to our business, providing 2.2 million customers with access to our flagship Governed Range investment portfolios. Our continued success and long-term focus as a mutual on customers are enabling us to invest £100m over the next three years to enhance our Workplace Pensions offer, allowing us to support an increasing number of employees with their retirement savings.
“We’re owned by our customers and, when we do well, they share in our success. In April, we will share £199m with eligible customers through ProfitShare, bringing the total shared since 2007 to over £2bn – a tangible demonstration of mutuality in action.
“We continue to focus on helping customers to make informed choices to build lasting financial resilience. In 2025, we saw an increasing number of advisers choosing Royal London to meet customers’ protection needs and we broadened our savings offering for our Individual and Workplace Pensions customers with the launch of our new Stocks and Shares ISA, which, like our pensions, qualifies for ProfitShare.”
