Produced in partnership with Royal London Asset Management.

Global fund manager, Royal London Asset Management is stepping back into the Australian spotlight with renewed intent.   

Having been down under since 2005, Royal London Asset Management’s legacy structure saw the £181 billion ($344 billion) manager servicing institutional clients from its London headquarters and attracting wholesale clients via a third-party distribution agreement.

But it is now taking client relationships into its own hands, betting that the philosophy stemming from its mutual ownership structure – whereby customers, not shareholders, receive the benefits of company growth – will resonate well with member-centric super funds.

For some time, the group had identified Australia as a key expansion market, according to Phil Reid, head of sales at Royal London Asset Management.

Owned by the Royal London Group, one of the UK’s largest life insurance and workplace pension providers, Royal London Asset Management was originally established to manage capital for the pension business and, as a result, also has significant capabilities to support defined contribution funds.

Reid points out that the group’s rationale and approach to establishing international offices is different to most managers.

“Managers typically pick countries that they want to be [in], but our approach is to think about where our capabilities resonate most with the needs of clients,” he says.

“Australia is an important, strategic market where we already have strong client relationships, and there are many similarities between the Australian and UK distribution landscapes, specifically in relation to superannuation and retirement incomes, which means we are aligned to the challenges and solutions that clients require in Australia also right now.”

Royal London Asset Management is keen to collaborate with institutional investors, based on their unique needs and requirements, in order to design and co-create investment solutions.

“As the superannuation market evolves, different needs and requirements will arise from clients and we think we will be well placed to work with these businesses to help develop solutions that will deliver the outcomes they need,” Reid says.

“So it’s matching the capabilities that we have and where our experience and expertise aligns with those client needs.”

Having historically serviced Australian institutional clients remotely from London, the manager decided to intensify their commitment to the region in 2025.

The decision to elevate its presence in Australia was made after members of the group’s global equities team departed. Shortly after, it appointed experienced London-based fund manager, Paul Schofield, to rebuild and lead the group’s global equities team.

Reid says the disruption created an opportunity to “double down on Australia”.

“We’d been growing in Australia, raising money and performing well for investors, and now we want to build on that with additional resource in-country and the ability to engage more closely with clients,” he says.

“We spoke with many clients whose feedback was clear on the importance of having people here on the ground, launching our own funds and backing them with our scale.”

In June 2025, Royal London Asset Management hired Kevin Haran, former managing director of Affiliated Managers Group in Australia and New Zealand as head of regional sales and charged him with the task of building the group’s Australian business.

In November 2025, Royal London Asset Management launched four funds in Australia with a seed capital of $1 billion, including two new strategies: global equity enhanced and global high yield. Reid describes this as “phase one”.

Phase two will involve building on the group’s extensive alternatives capabilities, “defined contribution-ready strategies” and custom-built solutions. This evolution will of course be driven by clients, Reid says.

“We are well known across a number of core capabilities but are clearly looking to work with and build relevant capabilities for the local market,” he says.

“Our approach is to engage with clients to make sure we deliver the right solutions and outcomes.”

Haran says Royal London Asset Management’s genuine desire to listen and connect with clients was a key factor in his decision to join.

“While Royal London has historically had a successful business here through a third-party distributor, outsourcing client connectivity was not something that the business consciously decided to do,” he says.

Looking to the future, Haran is excited about growing that client connectivity and building awareness and understanding of the group’s capabilities in both the institutional and retail markets.

“When the events of 2024 created an opportunity for the group to sit down and thoughtfully consider how it wanted to operate in the Australian market, they were adamant that they didn’t want to go down the same path, and exiting was never an option,” he says.