RL360° chief executive David Kneeshaw told International Adviser: “Our business is 12-14% up on last year for the first four months, so we have had a pretty strong start to the year.”
Kneeshaw said sales growth was across all RL360°’s products, but its protection policy, LifePlan, was its bestseller.
“It is up by 20% this year,” Kneeshaw said, adding that single and regular premium product sales had also risen.
Adds to 2015
Last year’s 21% growth in new business, reported in May, was driven by strong growth in its regular premium (RP) business, he said.
RP sales shot up by 67% in 2015 to £236m ($338.8m) from £141m in 2014. Single premium sales were also higher, though they increased by a more modest 6% to £479m.
Total sales in 2015, in terms of the present value of new business premiums (PVNBP), hit £715m last year up from £591m in 2014. PVNBP is calculated as total single premium sales received in the year plus the discounted value, at point of sale, of regular premiums expected to be received during the term of new contracts.
RL360° said new business results were particularly strong last year in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, but Kneeshaw had no geographical breakdown for the growth to date this year.
Offshore bonds
Kneeshaw said there had been single-digit percentage point growth in offshore bond sales in the UK over the first four months of 2016, but admitted this was from a low base.
“I believe the offshore bond market in the UK is at best flat. It has not been a great start to the year, so we are pretty pleased with the fact that we have grown our offshore bond business in the UK, considering there is a lot of price cutting going on by other companies,” he said.
Late last year the RL360° Group completed the acquisition of CMI Insurance Company from Lloyds Banking Group. It was renamed RL360° Life Insurance Company and now operates under the brand name RL360° Services.
“The acquisition of CMI and subsequent rebrand to RL360° Services has made us stronger, increasing our book of business and allowing us to integrate an experienced workforce to help support continued growth,” Kneeshaw said.
He added: “Our sights are now set firmly on pushing forward with new developments, such as our online applications, and on ensuring we continue to provide the best service and standards for our supporting advisers and their policyholders.”
