Royal London sees 67% rise in drawdown sales

According to the company's results for the year ending 31 December 2015, new drawdown sales reached £1.3bn, an increase of 67% from the previous year.

Its group pensions business generated £2.8bn which is a 27% increase from the previous year, while personal pensions rose 39%.

Over the four years to 31 December 2015 life and pension sales have doubled to £6.8bn from £3,3bn in 2011.

Royal London group chief executive Phil Loney (pictured above) said it was a strong set of results. He added: "Our asset management and platform businesses both saw good growth in total assets despite a very volatile market."

The group's wrap platform Ascentric experienced gross sales of £2.5bn, an increase of 14% from the previous year, while funds under administration increased by 13% to £10.1bn.

Royal London has previously spoken out against the idea that the Chancellor could introduce a pensions ISA, or a tax, exempt, exempt, (TEE) model.

Loney said the TEE system would ultimately turn people away from long-term saving but urged the Chancellor to reform the current tax relief system.

He said: "Savers will lose the certainty of a tax relief system which ensures their saved income is not taxed twice, and be thrown into an ISA-style system where they need to believe that future generations of politicians will not renege on the deal and tax their savings when they come to withdraw.

"He should not take the huge gamble of introducing ISA-style pensions, which would be reckless at a time when the numbers saving into a workplace pension are finally growing, following the successful introduction of automatic enrolment.

"This is not the time to turn the system upside down."

Royal London director of policy Steve Webb, formerly pensions minister, warned last week that pension ISAs would be George Osborne's "Gordon Brown moment".

 

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