Lloyds sells Clerical Medical to RL360

The move, which is subject to regulatory approval, involves 24,000 policies with more than £5bn assets under management.

CMI’s head office and 100 staff are also based in the Isle of Man and advisers and their clients can expect little immediate change, according to RL360 marketing director Natalie Hall.

She said: “Advisers will notice little or no change to staff, so they will be speaking with the same people. Not expected to make changes to head office within the year.”

“What we are hoping to do is to improve the service experience of advisers, especially when it comes to online services. We are determined to ensure that policyholder interests are protected and of course there will be no change to terms and conditions.

“The fact is that Lloyds now has a UK focus, while we have an entirely international focus, which is why this move should be better for both advisers and clients.”

David Kneeshaw, chief executive of RL360, which was formed by the merger of Scottish Provident International and Scottish Life International under Royal London and its subsequent management buyout in October 2013, said: “We remain fully committed to our existing RL360 products, markets, partners and customers.

“Once the transaction has completed we will move swiftly to integrate the businesses while ensuring there is no impact on current service standards.”

Background

Last year, RL360 revamped its guided-architecture fund range, with the addition of several new fund links for its products, and agreed a six-month savings plan exclusively with Guinness Asset Management for its Ucits version of its Global Innovators fund.

At the time, Daren O’Brien, financial adviser at London-based Aurora Financial Solutions, said: “This is a good way to get new money into funds that may not necessarily make it into the market or make an optimal size to make it a viable ongoing proposition.

“It is good to have as long as it is backed up by a robust system.”