RCS - Rothesay Life PLC - Full-Year Trading Update

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RNS Number : 3343Y  Rothesay Life PLC  27 March 2026

 

27 March 2026

Full-Year Trading Update

Strong financial performance and capital position mean Rothesay is well-placed
for growth

 

Rothesay, the UK's largest pensions insurance specialist, today provides an
update on its trading and financial performance for 2025.

 

·      New business: In total, Rothesay generated new business premiums
of £5.2bn in 2025 (2024: £15.7bn), assisting 17 pension schemes to de-risk
and bringing the total volume of new business executed since 2023 to c.
£33bn. In addition, Rothesay has either completed, or is exclusive on, a
further c. £2bn since the start of the year.

 

·      Supporting DC savers: In January 2026, Rothesay was selected to
partner with Nest, the UK's largest workplace pension scheme, to co-design a
bulk deferred annuity for Defined Contribution (DC) pension savers. This marks
an important step forward in the provision of innovative insured solutions for
the DC pensions market and will bring enhanced long-term security to Nest
members and other DC pensions savers in the UK.

 

·      Market outlook: A dynamic and competitive bulk annuity market
driven by an ongoing desire from pension scheme trustees and corporate
sponsors to transfer their risk continues to create considerable new business
opportunities. Rothesay's substantial capital resources combined with the
proven strength of its execution capabilities mean it remains well-placed to
complete some of the largest and most innovative transactions in the market
while maintaining pricing discipline and a cautious approach to risk
management.

 

·      Solvency: The Group's solvency position continues to be very
strong, with a Solvency Capital Requirement (SCR) coverage ratio of 246% at
31st December 2025 (2024: 261%). Surplus capital of £5.4bn (2024: £5.3bn)
means Rothesay is well-placed for future growth. The Group also successfully
executed a $500m Tier 1 debt issuance in 2025, further supporting its ability
to transact substantial volumes of future new business.

 

·      Financial performance: The Group generated adjusted operating
profits of £1,039m (2024: £1,779m) and pre-tax IFRS profits of £1,205m
(2024: £113m).

 

·      Assets: Assets under management increased to £73.5bn (2024:
£70.7bn) at 31st December 2025.

 

·      Liabilities: Rothesay secures the pensions of nearly one million
people and makes £4.4bn in annual payments to its policyholders.

 

·      Market consistent embedded value (MCEV): Rothesay's MCEV at 31st
December 2025 was £8.0bn (2024: £7.7bn). Further gains are expected as the
assets relating to recent new business transactions continue to be invested in
line with Rothesay's long-term investment strategy.

 

·      Dividend: In 2025, Rothesay paid a dividend of £488m or 31p per
share (2024: £361m or 23p per share).

 

·      Risk & capital management: Rothesay's long-term investment in
market-leading risk management systems, combined with its comprehensive
liquidity risk management framework, supports the Group's solvency and
liquidity position which remained very strong in 2025. The Group operates a
cautious, long-term investment strategy which seeks to diversify and reduce
exposure to a wide range of risks, generating the dependable returns that
create real security for our policyholders' pensions. Rothesay participated in
the PRA's Life Insurance Stress Test (LIST) 2025, which underlined the Group's
robust capital position and the resilience of its balance sheet, showing a
post-stress SCR coverage ratio of 213%, the highest of any of the LIST
participants.

 

·      Investing in the UK: Rothesay's dedicated in-house asset
origination and management team made very positive progress in deploying the
over £20bn of new business premiums generated across 2024 and 2025. This
included significant investment in UK productive assets such as student
accommodation, social housing and strategic infrastructure. In February 2026,
Rothesay also launched its first wholly owned UK-based direct mortgage lender,
Riverton, which will initially specialise in lifetime mortgages. In total,
Rothesay has invested £43bn in companies and projects that benefit the UK and
is pleased to support the Government's domestic investment agenda through the
Sterling 20 and other initiatives.

 

·      Credit ratings: Rothesay Life Plc has a Fitch Insurer Financial
Strength Rating of A+ (Strong) and a Moody's Insurance Financial Strength
Rating of A2. The rating outlook is stable from both.

 

·      Board changes: Bruce Carnegie-Brown succeeded Naguib Kheraj as
Rothesay's Chair from 1st July 2025, with Naguib stepping down from the Board
on 30th June 2025 following almost 11 years of service.

 

·      Customer service excellence & industry recognition: Rothesay
continues to meet the highest standards of consumer protection as set out in
the Consumer Duty regulation which is embedded across the business. The Group
maintained very high customer service standards during the year, with over 96%
(2024: 96%) of customers rating the quality of service received as good or
excellent. As part of Rothesay's commitment to continuous investment in
customer service and policyholder experience, the Group launched RothesayOne,
an innovative multichannel policyholder administration platform designed to
meet the growing policyholder demand for self-service and digital
capabilities.

 

·      Investing in our people: Rothesay recruited new talent throughout
the year, with employee numbers increasing to 571 (2024: 539).

 

·      ESG & productive investment: Rothesay is committed to
transitioning its investment portfolio to Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by
2050 and to achieving a 50% Carbon Intensity reduction across its total
investment portfolio by 2030. In 2025, the Group published its first Net Zero
Transition Plan. The Group is also a signatory to the Financial Reporting
Council's UK Stewardship Code.

 

·      Industry recognition: Rothesay received the Risk Transfer
Provider of the Year award at the Professional Pensions' UK Pensions Awards
and the European Pensions Insurance Firm of the Year award at the European
Pensions Awards 2025.

 

·      The Rothesay Foundation: In 2025, the Rothesay Foundation grew
its benefits support campaigns, expanding its award-winning partnership with
Age UK and establishing a pilot with benefits specialist Kinly to simplify and
speed up the benefits application process. In total, the Rothesay Foundation
has now helped over 13,000 pensioners check their eligibility for unclaimed
benefits, identifying approximately £62m of annualised support for pensioners
in need. Building on this impact, the Rothesay Foundation committed £1.8m to
launch a new campaign in 2026, partnering with Iceland Foods and Kinly to
provide both benefits checks and technology-enabled support for benefit
applications.

 

Tom Pearce, Chief Executive Officer of Rothesay, said: "Rothesay delivered
another very positive year, with strong financial performance and value
generation. We made excellent progress in investing the significant volumes of
assets generated over the last two years and will continue to do this
cautiously given the turbulent market backdrop. Our industry-leading risk
management systems allowed us to effectively navigate a wide range of external
risks and our substantial capital resources and long-term, supportive
shareholders mean we are very well-placed for future growth.

 

2026 promises to be another exciting year for Rothesay as we invest in our
capabilities across the business to drive further innovation in the pension
risk transfer market and capitalise on the growing pipeline of opportunities
we are seeing. As always, we will remain relentlessly focused on our core
purpose of securing the future for our policyholders, protecting their
pensions while providing service excellence and delivering long-term value to
our shareholders."

 

The Group's solvency metrics as at 31(st) December 2025 are summarised in the
table below:

 

                                   Group  Rothesay Life Plc

                                   £m     £m
  Own funds eligible to meet SCR   9,020  9,116
  SCR                              3,668  3,668
  Surplus above SCR                5,352  5,448
  SCR coverage                     246%   249%

 

ENDS

 

 

Media Contacts

Rothesay: Anthony Marlowe, Head of Communications & Public Affairs

0207 550 0687 or anthony.marlowe@rothesay.com
(mailto:anthony.marlowe@rothesay.com)

Temple Bar Advisory: Alex Child-Villiers +44 (0)7795 425580 or Sam Livingstone
+44 (0)7769 655437 or rothesay@templebaradvisory.com
(mailto:rothesay@templebaradvisory.com)

 

Notes to Editors

About Rothesay

Rothesay is the UK's largest pensions insurance specialist, purpose-built to
protect pension schemes and their members' pensions. With over £73 billion of
assets under management, we secure the pensions of nearly one million people
and pay out, on average, over £360 million in pension payments each month.

 

Rothesay is dedicated to providing excellence in customer service alongside
prudent underwriting, a conservative investment strategy and the careful
management of risk. We are trusted by the pension schemes of some of the UK's
best known companies to provide pension solutions, including British Airways,
Cadbury's, the Civil Aviation Authority, the Co-operative Group, National
Grid, NatWest, Morrisons and Telent.

 

Rothesay has two substantial institutional shareholders, GIC and Massachusetts
Mutual Life Insurance Company ("MassMutual"), who provide the company with
long-term support for its growth and development.

 

Rothesay refers to Rothesay Limited and its subsidiaries and is the trading
name for Rothesay Life Plc, an insurance company authorised by the Prudential
Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the
Prudential Regulation Authority. Firm Reference Number: 466067. Rothesay Life
Plc is registered in England and Wales with company registration number:
06127279 and registered address: Rothesay Life Plc, The Post Building, 100
Museum Street, London WC1A 1PB. Further information is available at
www.rothesay.com (http://www.rothesay.com)

 

 

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