The organization, with headquarters in Luxembourg and the US, provides wealth solution structures such as private placement life insurance.        

Lombard International Group, which provides wealth  and succession planning solutions for high net worth clients, today reported a 25 per cent year-on-year rise in new business premiums, at €5.7 billion ($7.43 billion) in 2019. 

The firm, which is owned by funds of Blackstone, the US-listed group, said recently-appointed new chief executive, Stuart Parkinson, is taking up his job at the start of April. Most recently he was global CIO for private banking at the global bank.

The rising NBPs were driven by higher sales in the US and Europe, the firm said in a statement. 

Assets under administration grew to a record high of €48.4 billion (as of December 31, 2019), a 17 per cent rise form the level in 2018, driven by positive net flows and favorable investment performance.

“We continued the expansion of our global capabilities, especially in the international wealth hubs of Switzerland, London, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore. These epicenters of HNW capital flows remain pivotal to our business growth,” John Hillman, executive chairman of Lombard International Group, said.

In Europe, the business delivered a 24 per cent year-on-year growth in new business inflows. LIA Wealth Advisers Ltd, an FCA approved UK entity was established to ensure continued service regardless of the Brexit negotiations.  LIA Patrimoine, a regulated broker in France, was also set up to serve the growing network of partners and intermediaries in France.

In the US, the business delivered a 27 per cent year-on-year growth in new business premium income. The business invested in enhancing its partnership model, leveraging its unique technical expertise and flexible operating capabilities. 

Emerging markets present a significant growth opportunity for the group as the business continues to grow its brand presence in Asia. New business origination from Latin America also grew substantially in 2019.

Strong position, but not complacent
Florent Albert, group chief financial officer at the group, said the organization has a strong position with relatively few clear challengers on the same scale, but isn’t complacent. There are high barriers to entry and you need to expand a lot of effort and resources over a long period of time to do what we do well.”

“We are very happy about how 2019 unfolded...we are yet to announce numbers, but 2019 was a record year for the group in terms of new business onboarding and assets under management, and our performance was strong in all geographies we operate in,” he said. 

The position of firms such as Lombard testifies how insurance-driven structures, such as private placement life insurance, have a place in the wealth management toolkit. 

“Insurance is a wrapper in which we can fold a number of bespoke solutions…We are a pure player, this is the only thing that we do,” Albert said. “There is a need to continue to educate private bankers and other advisors about insurance solutions and how they can benefit end clients for wealth management, asset diversification and estate planning.”