Legal & General: Everything you need to know
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Headquarters address |
1 Coleman Street, London EC2R 5AA, United Kingdom |
|---|---|
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Year established |
1836 |
| Size (employees) | 10,000+ |
| Global locations | Asia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States |
| Core operating profit | £1.6 billion (2025) |
| Profit before tax | £807 million (2025) |
| Underwriting expertise | Life, home, pet, and travel insurance |
| Key people | António Simões (group chief executive officer) |
Legal & General is a financial services group and investor with businesses across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the USA. It operates in five segments:
Legal & General’s business strategy focuses on six “global growth drivers”: ageing demographics, creating real assets, globalization of asset markets, welfare reforms, current capital, and technological innovation.
Six lawyers founded Legal & General in June 1836 to provide financial services in the UK. Over the years, it has focused on delivering quality products and services to its customers, giving back to society through its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, and creating value for its shareholders.
In 2010, Legal & General launched its IndiaFirst joint venture, which sold 130,000 policies in its first year of operation. In 2011, the group completed its first billion bulk annuity deal with the Turner and Newall pension scheme to continue paying pensions to members.
In 2012, the group welcomed its first retirement customers in the government’s new auto-enrolment scheme and launched Skyman, a digital app that highlights the importance of insurance. In 2013, it acquired 46.5% of UK house building company CALA Homes. In 2017, it boosted its US assets to $189 billion, expanded its US pension risk transfer business, and improved the digital capabilities of its US insurance business.
António Simões was appointed to the role on 1 January 2024. He joined the group from Banco Santander, where he served as CEO of Santander Spain and regional head of Europe from 2020, leading businesses across retail and commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, wealth management, and insurance. Before Santander, he spent 13 years at HSBC in London and Hong Kong, holding senior posts that included UK and Europe CEO and global CEO of private banking. Earlier, he was a partner at McKinsey & Company, advising financial institutions across several markets.
Simões studied in Lisbon at Nova School of Business and Economics, in Milan at Bocconi University, and in the United States, where he earned an MBA from Columbia University. In 2009, the World Economic Forum named him a Young Global Leader, and he later completed a WEF leadership program at Harvard Kennedy School. He has held public-interest roles as a member and former chair of the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s Practitioner Panel and as a member of the Prudential Regulation Authority’s Practitioner Panel. A strong advocate on youth unemployment, he has worked with The King’s Trust since 2012 and became a trustee of King’s Trust International in 2018.
Legal & General focuses on running its business on a high standard, improving the lives of its customers, taking care of the environment, creating new investments for the economy, and helping communities by using the group’s financial solutions.
The group believes that putting its employees first will improve customer service, build a better society, and create value for its shareholders. It takes care of its people by promoting a diverse and inclusive working environment, addressing areas of improvements, recognizing contributions, and celebrating employees’ success.
Legal & General helps communities through fundraising, volunteering, charity stakeholders, social enterprises, and education. It allows its employees to nominate local charities that Legal & General will support, volunteer for call centre donation appeals, and take part in the group’s fundraising activities. It supports Alzheimer’s Research UK, Duke of Edinburgh Award Programme, Hospice UK, Place2Be, Royal Voluntary Service, Hospice UK, and the Stroke Association.
Legal & General addresses climate change by using its influence as an investor to promote the transition to a low-carbon economy. It develops energy-efficient homes in its housing business, invests in renewables, reduces the carbon footprint of its business activities, and works with organizations to encourage climate resilience.
