Investment - Articles - Royal London hits £1bn milestone

 This milestone was achieved at the end of January 2017 and reflects the fact that over 50% of Royal London’s drawdown customers are choosing to invest in the GRIPs range.

 The GRIPs are a range of five multi asset portfolios which come with ongoing governance, automatic rebalancing and dynamic asset allocation, specifically designed for customers in drawdown, who are taking a regular income from their fund.

 Lorna Blyth, Investment Strategy Manager at Royal London’s pension intermediary business commenting on the achievement said: “Royal London’s Governed Retirement Income Portfolios are pretty unique in the market. There are still very few multi asset portfolios designed for the pension decumulation market, where units are cashed from a well-diversified multi-asset fund to provide income, rather than relying on income payouts from the underlying investments. With GRIPs, it is as straightforward as possible for advisers to ensure consistency of income for their clients to meet their objectives and expectations.

 “The portfolios have proven that they ‘Do what they say on the tin’ with a strong track record in delivering appropriate risk, return and governance, for over the past four years. Since launch all five portfolios continue to outperform their benchmarks and are delivering an average annual return of between 5-10% per annum.

 “However, we know it’s not just about performance. The risk of income drawdown eroding a person’s pension pot is very real. That’s why we’ve created a range of retirement planning tools to help advisers recommend the right retirement income option and investment solutions for their client’s needs, to help ensure the future sustainability of their income.”