Barry O'Dwyer, Group Chief Executive Officer, commented:
"We recorded another strong performance in 2025 with operating profita 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."
Highlights
- Our flagship Governed Range, where most of our pensions customers are invested, attracted net inflows of £2.6bn (2024: £3.2bn), with assets under management (AUM) reaching £83bn (2024: £72bn).
- Launched a Stocks and Shares ISA, expanding our investment offering and providing Individual and Workplace Pensions customers with greater choice for their medium to long-term savings.
- Protection new business sales rose 17% to £991m (2024: £846m), driven by enhancements to our proposition and increasing market share in a buoyant market.
- Customer satisfaction5 continues to rise, with 44% of customers rating Royal London 9 or 10 out of 10, up 12 points since the measure was introduced in 2020, and 70% now rate us 7 or higher.
- Our Bulk Purchase Annuity (BPA) buy-in business performed particularly strongly in our first full year of trading, with 18 completed transactions and £1.3bn of premiums.
- Expanded our Private Asset capabilities both through new fund launches and the acquisition of Dalmore Capital, extending the ability for Governed Range customers to access the potential benefits of diversified returns from private assets such as property and infrastructure.
- 80% (2024: 81%) of actively managed funds outperformed their three-year benchmark4 on an equally weighted basis and 51% (2024: 60%) outperformed on an AUM-weighted basis.
- Our Irish business delivered Protection and Pensions new business sales of £488m, up 64%.
- Contributed £3.5m towards social impact initiatives in 2025, including extending our partnership with Turn2us, a charity working to address financial insecurity across the UK, by another three years.
Financials
|
Year ended |
Year ended |
||
| Performance |
Group adjusted operating profit6 | £327m | £277m |
| Transfer to the fund for future appropriations (FFA)7 | £167m | £167m | |
| ProfitShare3 | £199m | £181m | |
| New business | Life and pensions new business sales8 | £12,200m | £10,804m |
| Inflows/(outflows) | Gross inflows9 | £42,489m | £31,825m |
| Net inflows/(outflows)9 | £4,105m | £(1,037)m | |
| 31 December 2025 | 31 December 2024 | ||
| Funds | Assets under management10 | £199bn | £173bn |
|
Capital11 |
Regulatory View solvency surplus | £2.5bn | £2.7bn |
| Regulatory View capital cover ratio | 183% | 196% | |
| Investor View solvency surplus | £2.5bn | £2.7bn | |
| Investor View capital cover ratio | 188% | 203% | |
- Group adjusted operating profit6 grew by 18% to £327m (2024: £277m) supported by the strength of our Pensions business, higher Protection contribution and a full year of trading from our BPA proposition.
- Transfer to the FFA7 of £167m (2024: £167m) included positive economic movements of £176m and the allocation of ProfitShare and is stated after a £51m one-off charge to reflect the expected impact of transitioning a number of legacy servicing arrangements from the Capita plc group over the next five years.
- Life and pensions new business sales8 were up 13% to £12,200m (2024: £10,804m) with our Pensions business continuing to deliver good new business flows and growth supported by a £1.1bn increase from BPA.
- Gross inflows9 rose to £42.5bn (2024: £31.8bn), with net inflows9 of £4.1bn (2024: £1.0bn net outflows) boosted by flows into liquidity funds and a new £4.6bn multi asset mandate with St. James's Place.
- Assets under management10 increased to a record £199bn (31 December 2024: £173bn) including £6bn from Dalmore Capital.
- Robust capital position supported investment in the business, with Investor View and Regulatory View11 ratios of 188% (31 December 2024: 203%) and 183% (31 December 2024: 196%) after a 5% impact from the acquisition of Dalmore Capital and a 4% capital strain from writing BPA business.
For further information please contact:
Lora Coventry, Senior PR Strategy Manager
- Email: lora.coventry@royallondon.com
- Mob: 07919 170673
Notes to editors
a. 'Operating profit' represents the APM measure 'Group adjusted operating profit'
- The information in this announcement relates to The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Limited ('RLMIS' or 'the Company'), and its subsidiary undertakings, together referred to as 'Royal London' or 'the Group'.
- The Group assesses its financial performance based on a number of measures, some of which are not defined or specified in accordance with relevant financial reporting frameworks such as UK GAAP or Solvency II. These measures are known as Alternative Performance Measures (APMs). APMs are disclosed to provide further information on the performance of the Group and should be viewed as complementary to, rather than a substitute for, the measures determined according to UK GAAP and Solvency II requirements. Accordingly, these APMs may not be comparable with similarly titled measures and disclosures by other companies.
- ProfitShare is a discretionary enhancement to eligible RLMIS customers with unit-linked or With-Profits policies. The allocation is considered annually and depends on a number of factors including financial performance, capital position, the risks and volatility of financial markets and the Group’s outlook.
- Investment performance has been calculated for funds with a defined external benchmark on an equally weighted basis, by measuring the number of in-scope funds outperforming their three-year benchmark divided by the total number of in-scope funds and, on an AUM weighted basis, by using a weighted average of active assets under management. Benchmarks differ by fund and reflect their mix of assets to ensure direct comparison. Passive funds are excluded from this calculation as, whilst they have a place as part of a balanced portfolio, they represent a minority of our AUM as Royal London believes in the long-term value added by active management.
- The Royal London Customer Value Statement (CVS) model tracks seven key pillars of importance across nearly 3,000 Royal London customers twice a year: Communicate, Membership, Resolution, Be Personal, Pay Out, Investment and Reputation. The results are reported by each factor and through an overarching CVS weighted index that represents the percentage of customers rating the company 9 or 10 out of 10 overall.
- Group adjusted operating profit is an APM and is the transfer to the fund for future appropriations before other comprehensive income excluding: short-term investment return variances and economic assumption changes (economic movements); (loss) arising from acquisitions and other corporate transactions; ProfitShare; ValueShare; tax; and one-off items of an unusual nature that are not related to the underlying trading of the Group. Profits or losses arising within the closed funds are held within the respective closed fund surplus; therefore Group adjusted operating profit represents the result of the Royal London Main Fund (RL Main Fund) and the RLI DAC Open Fund. In previous periods, this metric was referred to as Group operating profit before tax and has been renamed to make clear that it is an APM; the basis of calculation is unchanged. All references to 'operating profit' and 'Group operating profit' in this document represent the APM measure 'Group adjusted operating profit'. References to 'UK', 'Asset Management' and 'Ireland' operating profit represent the relevant Result from operating segments included in the Segmental Information note to the Financial Statements.
- Transfer to the fund for future appropriations represents the statutory UK GAAP measure 'Transfer to the fund for future appropriations' in the technical account within the Consolidated statement of comprehensive income.
- Life and pensions new business sales is an APM and represents life and pensions business only, excluding Asset Management, other lines of business and Bulk Purchase Annuity buy-ins transacted with the Group's defined benefit pension schemes. New business sales are presented as the Present Value of New Business Premiums (PVNBP), which is the total of new single premium sales received in the period plus the discounted value, at the point of sale, of the regular premiums the Group expects to receive over the term of the new contracts sold in the period. The rate used to discount the cash flows is derived from the opening swap curve at the start of the financial period for all new business except annuities, where the rate used is the future yield (less an allowance for downgrade and default risk) on assets expected to back these annuitant liabilities over the lifetime of the contract.
- Gross and net flows incorporate flows into Royal London Asset Management (RLAM) from external clients (Asset Management flows) and those generated from the Group's life and pensions business. Asset Management net flows represent external client inflows less external client outflows, including cash mandates. Life and pensions net flows represent the combined premiums and deposits received (net of reinsurance) less claims and redemptions paid (net of reinsurance). Given its nature, non-linked Protection business is not included.
- Assets under management (AUM) is an APM and represent the total of assets managed by, or on behalf of, the Group, including funds managed on behalf of third parties. This includes assets where the beneficial ownership interest resides with third parties (and which are therefore not recognised in the UK GAAP balance sheet) but on which the Group earns fee revenue.
- The capital cover ratio is an APM and is calculated as the Group's Own Funds, being the regulatory capital under Solvency II, divided by the Solvency Capital Requirement (SCR). The 'Investor View' equals the RL Main Fund capital position (i.e. excluding ring-fenced funds). The 'Regulatory View' solvency surplus and capital cover ratio exclude the closed funds’ surplus as a restriction to Own Funds. All capital figures are stated on a Group Partial Internal Model basis and the 2025 figure is estimated and unaudited.
About Royal London
Royal London is the largest mutual life, pensions and investment company in the UK, and in the top 30 mutuals globally*, with assets under management of £199bn, 8.5 million policies in force and over 5,000 employees. Figures quoted are as at 31 December 2025.
Royal London supports partnerships aligned to its values as a purpose-driven, modern mutual. This includes our work as the only Founding Partner of the first British & Irish Lions Women's Team, where we are investing in women's and girls' rugby across both grassroots and elite levels to support the development of the next generation of players and coaches.
Learn more at royallondon.com.
*Based on total 2022 premium income. ICMIF Global 500, 2024
