How LV= brought itself back from the brink
David Hynam runs LV=, the life insurance, income protection and pensions business formerly known as Liverpool Victoria that has over 1 million members. He took the helm in September 2022 after the 183-year-old mutual narrowly escaped being sold to US private equity firm Bain Capital.
The proposed £530 million takeover collapsed on 10 December 2021, when only 69 per cent of voting members approved the deal, falling short of the required 75 per cent threshold. Just 15 per cent of LV='s 1.16 million members participated in the vote. Members would have received £100 each if the sale had proceeded, but instead chose to preserve the mutual's independence following a campaign led by the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday.
Hynam's predecessor, former Army colonel Mark Hartigan, was removed following the failed sale. The new chief executive inherited a company reporting a loss before tax and member bonuses of £265 million in its 2022 Annual Report and Accounts. His task was to steady the ship and restore confidence.
A turnaround takes shape
Since then, Hynam has put the mutual on sounder financial footing by slashing debt, growing profits and strengthening capital cushions. The company recently paid out a record £100 million to the 250,000 eligible policyholders who own the mutual. The bulk of that bonus came from a deal with Allianz, the German giant that bought LV='s home, motor and pet insurance arm six years ago.
Speaking from LV='s Bournemouth headquarters, the 54-year-old Welsh executive admits the company had been distracted by the takeover saga.
We'd been a bit distracted for a while. There's some history that we've moved on from.
While LV= was fighting for survival, the mutual sector has been consolidating. Nationwide completed its £2.9 billion acquisition of Virgin Money on 1 October 2024, creating the UK's second-largest provider of mortgages and savings accounts. Coventry Building Society completed its £780 million acquisition of the Co-operative Bank on 1 January 2025, returning the 152-year-old bank to mutual ownership and creating a combined entity with assets of around £89 billion. OneFamily and Scottish Friendly plan to merge, creating a mutual life assurer with 2.3 million members.
Political winds shifting
The timing of LV='s recovery coincides with political change. Andy Burnham became Prime Minister on 20 July 2026, after being elected Labour Party leader on 17 July. He is the first Labour prime minister who is also a member of the Co-operative Party, having promised to double the size of the mutual sector.
It's great to have somebody who has got an interest in the co-operative and mutual sector. That's always going to be useful for us.But he emphasises the need for policy stability, particularly around pensions. Tax-free cash withdrawals from pension pots soared before last year's Budget on rumours the £268,275 limit would be cut. It wasn't, but Hynam wants to avoid similar speculation before this autumn's Budget.
If the tax-free allowance for pensions was withdrawn – or threatened to be withdrawn – people will behave differently in their tax planning.
The challenge of mutual finance
A persistent challenge for mutuals remains access to capital. Unlike public companies, member-owned organisations cannot issue shares to outside investors. For regulated life insurers such as LV=, this means relying on policyholder premiums, investment returns and retained profits.
I don't think anyone has come up with an idea yet as to how mutuals can have access to capital when you can't basically own a share.
LV= underwent significant corporate restructuring before the Bain saga. On 2 January 2020, it converted from a friendly society to a company limited by guarantee named Liverpool Victoria Financial Services Limited, allowing greater operational flexibility while preserving mutual principles.
Brand strength and performance
Despite these structural challenges, LV= has returned to form. The mutual, which traces its roots to 1843 when it was established in Liverpool to help the poor pay for funerals, benefits from a strong brand that generates customer loyalty. German giant Allianz recently signed a licensing deal to continue using the LV= name on the general insurance products it bought from the mutual in 2019, reversing earlier plans to drop the brand.
Financial performance has improved markedly. The flagship with-profits fund returned an impressive 14 per cent last year. Half of LV='s business is in savings and retirement products such as annuities and equity release plans, with the remainder in protection plans including life insurance and critical illness cover.
Looking ahead
Hynam sees growth opportunities in unregulated or guided advice for the mass affluent market. Artificial intelligence could play a role in providing basic financial advice at lower cost, he suggests, while LV= is also trialling AI in complaints handling.
I don't mind if some fail, because you're not giving it a good enough go if it's always 100 per cent successful.
The chief executive, who lives in Bournemouth with his partner Owen, a hospital radiographer, and their rescue dog Walter, lives by a simple motto: leave things better than you found them. Walter, he reveals,
was found in a Biffa bin in Cyprusand flown to the UK by Owen's mother, who was running a dog sanctuary there at the time.
Mutuals have seen false dawns before. David Cameron's coalition government promised to promote mutuals and foster diversity in the financial sector as part of his big society agenda, but it never materialised. Whether Andy Burnham's premiership will prove different remains to be seen. For now, Hynam is focused on delivering value for members and ensuring LV= never again faces an existential crisis.