Royal London to focus on Irish protection and offshore business

Royal London will focus on building up its protection business in Ireland through latest acquisition, Caledonian Life.

The mutual is completing its acquisition of Caledonian Life's parent company Royal Liver and expects the takeover to be complete by July subject to FSA approval.

John Deane, head of intermediary at Royal London, said: "Caledonian is one focus. We plan to build on the business.

"Irish economic difficulty does not mean there are no opportunities for growth. In fact, the Irish government is moving the responsibility for protection from the state to the individual."

Caledonian Life has a million members, three million policies in force and £2.9bn assets under management. Relaunched in 2001, Caledonian products are only available via IFAs.

Deane added Royal London is happy with the performance of its offshore business, Royal London 360, and wants to build on this in 2011.

Royal London 360 increased new business by 50% to £117m, from £78m in 2010.

Deane said a number of factors are driving clients' need for offshore products and increasing numbers of IFAs are recommending them.

"Partly it is down to our new products, including the new offshore bond and regular savings products, but poor exchange rates and decreasing earning power have driven demand," Deane said.

"Qualifying recognised overseas pension schemes (QROPS) is a growth area, as people are becoming more mobile in the way they live and work," he added.