Royal London Ireland has become the first life assurance company provider to enter the Irish pensions market in more than 30 years and the first new pension provider in over a decade.
Following a multi-million Euro investment, the life and pensions provider has announced its development of new pension propositions that will be offered through Financial Brokers.
The provider will be the first pension provider with zero policy fees and fund switching charges.
The launch will add to consumer choice, increase competition and drive product improvements in the overall market, which in 2021, had €1.5 billion of new business single premium sales in Personal Retirement Bonds and €2.3 billion in Approved Retirement Funds.
Speaking of the launch, Noel Freeley, CEO of Royal London Ireland said: “Following several years of behind-the-scenes work, intense consultation with Financial Brokers and a multi-million capital investment, we have been able to create a compelling pension proposition that will deliver value for money and competitive pricing for customers, combined with access to two leading asset managers Royal London Asset Management and BlackRock.
"Underpinned by strong customer service, our pension products will provide positive competition in terms of innovation, pricing and transparency, with no fixed or monetary policy fees or fund switching charges.
“This expansion represents the next stage of development in our ongoing growth in Ireland. We’re in a position where we’re market leader in broker protection products and where we have increased our broker protection estimated market share from 22.5 per cent to 30.2 per cent since 2020, so we have a strong distribution platform to build from.
"The competition in Ireland’s pensions market has been largely unchanged for some time. New entrants are rare, primarily due to the level of investment required to deliver a high value product and the expertise demanded to build a robust service support platform."
Royal London Ireland will initially launch a Personal Retirement Bond and an Approved Retirement Fund.
