Clerical Medical International offshore Bonds
Many investors own an International Offshore investment Bond and a number of the original providers of those Bonds have subsequently sold their ‘book’ of clients to other providers. Although a continuation of the original terms & conditions and service levels should be expected, many policyholders are not aware of those conditions and any subsequent changes or restrictions following the ‘sale’ of their policies to a new provider. One of these acquisitions was Clerical Medical International. Whether you already own or are considering a Clerical Medical bond this will apply to you.
Clerical Medical International
From a historical standpoint, many Clerical Medical bond holders may be aware of the circumstances and timeline surrounding the acquisition of the business, but some may not. In brief, the situation unfolded as follows;
In December 2014, Scottish Widows put it’s offshore life business, Clerical Medical International, up for sale and several parties expressed an interest at the time.
Clerical Medical International had been running as a closed business since March 2012 after being put under review and Scottish Widows parent, Lloyds Bank, decided to move it’s focus to core UK banking and insurance operations.
Ultimately, on November 30th, 2015, Clerical Medical International Insurance Company Limited (“CMI”) was acquired by the RL360 Group. On April 5th, 2016 it was renamed RL360 Life Insurance Company Limited and rebranded to RL360° Services. All policyholders were evidently informed of the changes.
A Lloyds Bank spokesman said at the time: “Lloyds Banking Group can confirm it has entered into an agreement with RL360 Group to sell its international life business, Clerical Medical International Insurance Company Limited. The sale reflects the group’s strategy of focusing on its core UK insurance businesses.”
The business consisted of around 24,000 policies with over £5bn of assets under management. All of these policies were transferred to RL360.
RL360 Group was formed in late 2013 following a Management Buy Out of Royal London Insurance with the backing of private equity house, Vitruvian Partners.
The majority of the policies were either offshore, single premium portfolio Bonds, or regular savings policies. There was a large range of Investment Bonds, Redemption Bonds and other types of savings plans. Several offered an open-architecture and others offered a limited range of investments, both internal or external.
The common denominator among the offshore Portfolio Bonds is the majority are closed and no longer open to new investors. RL360, however, continue to manage policies for existing policyholders.
Since June 2017, the previously offered internal insurance funds are no longer available to be switched into. Some of the specific policies affected by this are the ‘Global Investor’ & ‘Portfolio Bonds’.
How we can help
At Harrison Brook, we understand it can be very confusing and disconcerting when things change that are out of your control, especially when it involves your hard earned money and savings.
If you own an original Clerical Medical Bond that is now administered by RL360, or any other Offshore Portfolio Bond and are not sure of the current status, please feel free to contact Harrison Brook today for a free consultation…..
The information contained herein is for informational purposes only which is subject to change and should not be relied upon. You should seek advice from a professional adviser before embarking on any financial planning activity.
