Uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the EU referendum in the lead up to the vote failed to dent new retirement sales at Legal and General, as the firm reported strong results today.

The Retirement Division’s bulk annuity business in H1 2016 was £3.6bn, including £250m executed in June. This was over £1bn ahead of the full year bulk annuity sales figure of £2.4bn for 2015. It followed the £2.9bn Aegon back-book transaction in May.

Lifetime mortgage sales exceeded £200m in H1 2016, meaning these surpassed the full year comparator for 2015, as well as being greater than our individual annuity sales in H1 2016.

Legal & General Retirement sales across bulk annuities, individual annuities and lifetime mortgages of £4bn have been achieved in H1 2016.

Kerrigan Procter, managing director of Legal & General Retirement, said: “Political and market uncertainty around the EU Referendum did not get in the way of business, as companies or individuals will always need to manage their employees’ or own retirement. Bulk annuity transactions continue to be an important way for Legal & General to deploy capital to help our UK clients, and use the premiums to invest in real assets such as UK infrastructure and direct lending.”

Legal & General entered the lifetime mortgage market last year. Legal & General Retirement now provides more lifetime mortgages to its customers than individual annuities.

Bernie Hickman, CEO of Legal & General Home Finance, said: “Individual annuities still have their place, but customers want more choice in how they fund their retirement, with accessing housing wealth being an attractive option for asset rich, income poor retirees.”

Meanwhile, ex-Second Permanent Secretary of HM Treasury Sir John Kingman has been recruited as group chairman of Legal & General, succeeding Rudy Markham.

His extensive Whitehall career culminated at the Treasury, where his responsibilities variously included serving as managing director of the finance and industry directorate, and managing director of the public services and growth directorate.

He was also CEO of UK Financial Investments, with responsibility for managing the Government’s shareholdings in Lloyds Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Northern Rock.