ROYAL London has shrugged off the cut in interest rates and a “turbulent year in markets and politics” to increase pre-tax profits by 16 per cent to £282 million.

The company reported new life and pensions business up 28 per cent to £8.7 billion, with group pensions up 38 per cent to nearly £3.9bn thanks to “buoyant” sales of workplace schemes.

Royal London Asset Management attracted gross inflows of £6.7bn, up from £3.1bn last year, as funds under management grew to a record £100bn from £85bn in 2015.

Boss Phil Loney said Royal London had made “excellent progress” in 2016.