Deals: Royal London Buys Responsible Group

This is a rare thing, an acquisition announcement from Royal London, one of the last mutual insurers in the UK. It’s interesting that later life finances and pension/insurance scheme choices are top of the agenda here. There is a huge amount of wealth held by the over-60s in the UK and the methods of tapping into that wealth to pay income, carers fees, nursing costs and more late in life is a process that needs tact and careful approaches by the insurance sector. 

As many people know, one way that wealth trickles down generations is via the Bank of Mum and Dad, (or Grand-parents) so maybe the next UK government will look at ways to regulate transfers of some of the asset value of property in more innovative ways. Simple equity release loans based on percentages of value are OK, but more imaginative thinking could be useful. What about a nursing/home carer package that is charged to the value of the property upon death, but allows X number of hours of care at home? For many people that sort of insurance product would have appeal, especially in rural areas where Council social services are almost non-existent.

Here’s the word;

Royal London, the UK’s largest life, pensions and investment mutual, announces it has wholly acquired the later life lending and product specialists Responsible Life and Responsible Lending (the “Responsible Group”), subject to regulatory approval. The acquisition builds on Royal London’s existing 40% stake in the businesses. Founded in 2010, Responsible Group is a market-leading later life mortgage broker and lender.

The acquisition will enable Royal London to support Responsible Group to continue delivering innovative later life solutions and scale the provision of later life lending in what it believes will be a growing market.

Commenting on the announcement, Barry O’Dwyer, Group Chief Executive Officer, said:

“This transaction strengthens our support for advisers and customers as they look for solutions in funding later life needs. We believe this market has a lot of potential as it offers customers additional choices at retirement, especially those who have property wealth but insufficient pension savings to support their desired standard of living.

“Later life lending is complex by nature and requires specialist advice. Royal London is keen to play a role in ensuring high quality advice is an accessible option for those who would benefit from accessing the equity in their home.”

Carlton Hood, Chief Executive Officer for the Responsible Group companies, added:

“I am delighted that the Responsible companies are becoming part of the Royal London Group, and will benefit from the stability of being part of the UK’s largest life, pensions and investment mutual. We will work with colleagues at Royal London to bring the consideration of pension wealth and property wealth together for advisers and clients, and to ensure the advisers we support, and the customers they serve, are able to access the best range of later life lending solutions for their retirement needs.”