Why mutuality matters

So why does mutuality matter?

We're owned by over two million of our customers² rather than shareholders or private equity investors. Our mutuality means we can focus solely on delivering good outcomes for our customers without needing to balance this with shareholder returns.

It’s an important point since customers’ annuity policies will run for decades into the future – long after insurers are expected to have shifted their sales focus to other markets.

For Royal London, mutuality means so much more than being customer owned. It’s a passionate, principled belief that by working in everyone’s interests, we and all of society can benefit. It’s our ‘mutual mindset’ – from offering useful guides, tools and product offerings to our customers, to addressing wider societal challenges through our social impact initiatives.

Outside of our mutuality, much of what we do with bulk purchase annuities is the same as other insurers. We approach pricing in the same way, putting up capital to support new business with the aim of making a return on that money in the years ahead. We manage investment and longevity risk in a similar way and we’re subject to the same regulations set by the PRA and FCA as other insurers.

What are tangible examples of a ‘mutual mindset’?

In my experience over the past year, trustees, corporate sponsors and their advisers recognise that mutual ownership is different, but when I meet them, they rightly ask for tangible examples of where it will benefit their members in the years ahead. Three specific examples of our ‘mutual mindset’ in action that I share are:

• In-house administration: Because the interests of our customers are at the heart of everything we do, we chose to do our bulk annuity administration in-house, end-to-end. We’re the first new entrant to the bulk purchase annuity market to do this in nearly 20 years. Outsourcing would have been easier and cheaper but, as a mutual, our priority was being in full control of quality and direct accountability to our customers. When your members call us, they will always speak to somebody who lives and breathes the Royal London culture and ethos.
• Quality ahead of quantity: We plan to grow and be successful, but our ambition is right-sized over the long-term to prioritise quality of delivery. We expect to secure 10 to 15 buy-in transactions this year, which will give our post-transaction teams the time to put brilliant customer service first in the onboarding, buy-in and buyout phases.
• The breadth of support to customers: As a mutual, we have a long heritage and a passion for helping customers improve their financial resilience. We’re about a lot more than just selling policies to our customers. We show this through our added value initiatives such as our Helping Hand service for our Protection customers and the Financial Wellbeing Service. Royal London provides significant amounts of guidance and tools to its policyholders to help them through life events and all customer facing staff are trained in identifying and assisting vulnerable customers. This is a core part of Royal London’s strategy of ensuring financial resilience.  

We’ve found that when trustees have the benefits of mutuality brought to life, they understand that Royal London is different and we hope for many we’ll be an attractive long-term partner for them and their members.

I feel so proud to work for a company that cares so much about its customers. If you’d like to find out more then please email me at Moin.Patala@RoyalLondon.com.

1. ^{Based on total 2022 premium income. ICMIF Global 500, 2024}
2. ^{As at 31 December 2024}