Legal & General Retirement on track to double new business sales in 2016
Legal & General Group Plc ("Legal & General") today said its Retirement Division was on track to double its new business sales in 2016, with sales now at £5.4 billion (£2.9 billion, FY 2015).
Legal & General's Retirement business continues to experience strong growth in pension de-risking and lifetime mortgages. Customer demand has not been impacted by the introduction of Solvency II in 2016, the uncertainty around Brexit, and 'lower for longer' interest rates.
In the UK and US Legal & General has written over £400 million in bulk annuity business during the month of September alone. Lifetime Mortgages delivered record sales this quarter, and are on track to exceed £500 million of sales in 2016. Since June 30th Legal & General Retirement has written over £1.4 billion in sales, and the Group has started to invest in US infrastructure assets, to support its growing US pensions de-risking business.
Infrastructure investment forms a key part of our annuity portfolio investment strategy. £6.2 billion of the annuity portfolio is currently invested in infrastructure assets, of which almost £1 billion has been invested this year. Our £250 million investments into Transport for London's new headquarters and the London Gateway port, deliver materially enhanced higher risk adjusted returns to our shareholders.
Kerrigan Procter, Managing Director of Legal & General Retirement, said:
"Legal & General Retirement is on track to double new business sales in 2016. Companies still need to manage their defined benefit pension plans, and people still want to achieve financial security in retirement, regardless of the uncertain political, regulatory or economic backdrop.
"Legal & General's aim is to both create and invest in new real productive assets. This allows us to fulfil pension promises to our customers in an efficient way, deliver attractive risk adjusted returns for our shareholders, and also drive job creation and economic growth which is good for business and customers.
"Legal & General entered the lifetime mortgage market last year, and the business has grown rapidly. Customers want more choice in how they fund their retirement, and accessing wealth that is tied up in their home is an attractive solution for asset rich retirees. I expect lifetime mortgages to be even more popular with customers in 2017."
Legal & General Retirement sales since June 30th are £1.4bn, comprising of £1.2 billion for pension de-risking, £130 million of lifetime mortgages, and £90 million of individual annuities. In July Legal & General signed 5-year distribution agreements with Santander for lifetime mortgages, and Aegon for individual annuities.
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For further information, please contact:
Investors:
Laura Doyle Head of Investor Relations 020 3124 2088
Sujee Rajah Investor Relations Manager 020 3124 2047
Media:
Richard King Head of Group Corporate Communications 020 3124 2095
Notes to editors:
Legal & General Group Plc:
Established in 1836, Legal & General is a leading provider of insurance, savings and investment management products in the UK. The Group has a market capitalisation of £13.3bn (as at 23 September 2016) and is responsible for investing £841.5bn worldwide (as at 30 June 2016) on behalf of investors, policyholders and shareholders. Legal & General has over seven million customers in the UK for life assurance, pensions, investments and general insurance plans and over one million customers in the US who rely on us for life assurance. In 2015, Legal & General's operating profit (on the IFRS basis) was £1,455m and adjusted earnings per share were 18.58p for the period, an increase of 14% and 11% respectively.
For more information on Legal & General, please see http://www.legalandgeneralgroup.com/
Forward-looking statements
This announcement may contain certain forward-looking statements relating to Legal & General, its plans and its current goals and expectations relating to future financial condition, performance and results. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances which are beyond Legal & General's control, including, among others, UK domestic and global economic and business conditions, market related risks such as fluctuations in interest rates and exchange rates, the policies and actions of regulatory and Governmental authorities, the impact of competition, the timing impact of these events and other uncertainties of future acquisition or combinations within relevant industries. As a result, Legal & General's actual future condition, performance and results may differ materially from the plans, goals and expectations set out in these forward-looking statements and persons reading this announcement should not place reliance on forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made only as at the date on which such statements are made and Legal & General Group Plc does not undertake to update forward-looking statements contained in this announcement or any other forward-looking statement it may make.
