STRATEGIC REPORT
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I am delighted to present my Chief Executive Officer’s Statement for the 2020 financial year. CAPITAL Our priority has been to deliver a sustainable capital model and 2020 was an important year in the attainment of that goal, as we achieved capital self-sufficiency more than a year earlier than originally planned. Our Solvency II capital coverage ratio has grown to 156% (estimated, post notional TMTP recalculation) from 141% at the end of 2019, an exceptional achievement given the particularly difficult economic environment. The increase reflects a sustained improvement in organic capital generation and the benefits arising from the successful execution of a range of management actions. Increasing the organic capital generation has been a key focus of the whole leadership team. Underlying organic capital generation was positive for the first time in 2020, with management actions adding further to the surplus. Our increased focus on reducing costs and new business strain is helping to increase the underlying capital generation which provides a sustainable foundation for the future. We have taken action to introduce significant de-risking initiatives over the year which have helped to increase the resilience of the balance sheet and to reduce the sensitivity of our capital position to economic factors. We have entered into our second and third no-negative equity guarantee (“NNEG”) hedging transactions, sold a portion of our lifetime mortgages portfolio, released capital through more longevity reinsurance, this time on the GIfL portfolio and, as previously announced, signed our first DB partnering deal. We have successfully hedged against interest rate movements and proactively managed our credit portfolio to positively contribute to our solvency capital despite credit downgrades. The UK property market has been resilient since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. We recognise that the uncertainty over the health of the UK economy makes it more difficult to predict the future trajectory of UK property prices to which our solvency position is exposed, as shown in the Solvency II property sensitivities included in the Business Review. The sensitivity has reduced due to the significant management actions we have executed over the year – both in further NNEG hedges, which partially protect around 20% of our LTM book against adverse future property performance, and in the sale of around 8% of the mortgage book. We expect further management actions will be implemented to reduce risk and boost the Group’s capital position. Regulatory engagement has remained high, as we have taken action to strengthen our capital position and reduce our property exposure. Some uncertainty and risks remain with further details in the principal risks and uncertainties section, and in note 35, Capital. GROWTH AND INNOVATION The retirement markets we participate in provide long-term structural growth opportunities and we are able to achieve high levels of return on the capital we invest in those markets. In the second half of 2020 we started to take more of those opportunities and we will be building on those foundations in 2021. We are investing for growth by developing new solutions to positively disrupt our markets and deliver better outcomes for customers. This year we announced our first defined benefit partnering transaction, a capital light model for DB de-risking transactions which exceed £250m in size. In our retail markets we have introduced Destination Retirement, our unique automated advice service which has been developed to help close the financial advice gap for people in middle Britain with more modest pension savings. OUR PURPOSE AND SUSTAINABILITY Just has a strong social purpose: we help people achieve a better later life. We help our customers achieve security, certainty and peace of mind. During 2020, we have further strengthened our sustainability credentials as we became the first UK insurer to issue a Green Bond and the first to provide a green lifetime mortgage. The Green Bond enshrines our commitment to supporting the transition to a low-carbon global economy as all the proceeds are earmarked to be invested in green infrastructure
projects. In 2019 our carbon intensity per employee was already the lowest in the FTSE 350 life insurance sector and in 2020 we have achieved further dramatic reductions. However this is a long-term journey and we will continue to work hard to improve all aspects of sustainability that we touch as a business. CUSTOMERS The needs of our customers are forefront when setting our goals. Many of our customers are in vulnerable groups and so we are proud that we have maintained the delivery of all the Group’s services to customers during the disruption caused by the pandemic. In addition, we made a number of changes to our products and services to help support our customers through this difficult period where many household services have been impacted by the pandemic. You can read more about our response to help customers on page 21. COLLEAGUES AND CULTURE Protecting the welfare of our colleagues across the Group and ensuring the delivery of critical services to customers have been clear priorities driving our response to the pandemic. We are very aware of the challenges colleagues face when working from home and particularly for those with additional caring responsibilities. You can read in detail how we have supported our colleagues and achieved our highest ever Best Companies score on page 21. We are rightly proud of our award-winning service, and of our strong social purpose, which together deliver a “Just” experience to our customers. Our colleagues are at the heart of this and I am grateful for the immense contribution they make to our business and for the way they have adapted so positively and with such agility to our new way of working during the pandemic. Building a diverse workforce and strengthening our inclusive culture is a key priority for Just. It’s the right thing to do and it helps us to succeed, innovate and better serve our customers. I am proud that we have increased gender diversity across senior roles by five percentage points in 2020 and we are on track to achieve our pledge as a signatory to the Women in Finance Charter that 33% of our senior leaders will be female by 2023. PERFORMANCE REVIEW I am very pleased that, as our capital position has improved over the year and after taking decisive action to reduce new business strain, we have been able to return to new business growth in the second half of the year. For the whole year, Retirement Income sales were £2,145m, an increase of 12% from the prior year. The DB market has been very resilient throughout the crisis. DB sales were up 22% to £1,508mwhich is testament to how well both trustees and employee benefit consultants have adapted to working remotely. The retail business was initially more affected but adapted swiftly and by the second half of 2020 GIfL and LTM sales were similar to those in the second half of 2019. IFRS profit before tax for 2020 was £237m (2019: £369m) due to lower economic profits in 2020. Adjusted operating profit before tax rose to £239m (2019: £219m), as higher sales and new business profit, together with improved in-force earnings, have helped to offset higher finance costs. The attention to capital discipline has resulted in a further fall in our new business strain to £48m (2019: £74m) and helped to achieve a very pleasing positive organic capital generation of £221m. We are building a strong, sustainable track record in capital generation, something that we are all committed to continuing. IN CONCLUSION These are extraordinary times and we are doing all we can to ensure we live up to our purpose to help people achieve a better later life. I am very grateful to my colleagues for their resilience, commitment and adaptability during this challenging period. We are pleased that our relentless focus on our key goal of strengthening the Group’s capital has resulted in a much improved position that will allow us to make more positive choices around growth, innovation and shareholder returns in 2021 and beyond.
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