Annuity providers Just Retirement and Partnership Assurance have relaunched on the London Stock Exchange today (4 April) as the merged JRP Group, with assets under management of £15bn.
JRP opened at £1.54 per share, with the company putting its market cap of £1.4bn.
Two years after watching their shares plummet in value as chancellor George Osborne scrapped the need for people to buy the annuity providers’ products, investors in the listed companies last week voted almost unanimously to back the merger.
Today’s share price for the enlarged group remains a far cry from the companies’ valuations prior to Mr Osborne’s March 2014 Budget pension freedoms announcement, when he gave people who would have previously bought an annuity unfettered access to their retirement pots.
Following the Budget, Partnership’s share price plummetted 60 per cent, falling from £3.19 to around £1.22 by the end of that week.
Just Retirement’s shares took a similar nose-dive, falling 48 per cent from £2.67 to £1.40.
Announced last August, the merger sees the companies join forces to overcome the huge hit they suffered as a result of Mr Osborne’s decision.
In a statement to this morning (4 April), JRP Group said it is “focused on utilising its improved scale, efficiency and capital strength to continue providing customers with better value alternatives to products offered by large incumbent insurers”.
Rodney Cook, group chief executive, said: “As we launch, we are optimistic that our new company will use the outstanding intellectual property we have developed, together with our multi-channel distribution assets and market leading service to positively disrupt markets to deliver improved value to our customers.”
