Legal & General will merge its retail insurance and pensions divisions from the start of next year.

Two of the firm’s five divisions will merge to offer insurance and retirement products to retail clients through one business from 2022.

The two divisions to merge are the L&G Retail Retirement and L&G Insurance arms.

The group said the merger will allow it to “work better and more seamlessly” as well as putting the firm in a better position for growth in the retail and workplace space.

In a statement Legal & General said: “As both businesses serve retail clients, having a single interface for retail clients, whether with insurance or pension savings products, will enable us to better satisfy our customers’ and distribution partners’ service expectations.”

The newly combined divisions will be led by Bernie Hickman who is currently chief executive of Legal & General Insurance.

Mr Hickman has spent 23 years at the firm including previously heading up the firm’s retirement divisions and retail protection division.

Legal & General said the decision to merge the two divisions was driven by growth in its services to retail customers during the Coronavirus pandemic.

It said that its five-division structure has served it well but the business merger is in line with a strategy to “encourage synergies and grow bandwidth” across the business.

The firm has yet to decide what it will call the soon to be merged divisions.