British insurer Royal London has named Irishman Barry O'Dwyer as its new group chief executive.

Mr O'Dwyer, who hails from Galway, is expected to take up his appointment in September subject to regulatory approval.

The company board has confirmed that Phil Loney, the currently group CEO will stand down on June 28th.

Kevin Parry, chairman of Royal London, said: "After a rigorous selection process, the board is pleased that Barry O'Dwyer has been appointed group chief executive.

"His vision for our industry coupled with extensive experience of retail and wholesale pension and savings products will allow him to build on Royal London's existing market position."

Barry O'Dwyer | Image: Royal London

On his upcoming role, Mr O'Dwyer said: "I am delighted to be joining Royal London to build on the fantastic work of the last few years.

"The business has capitalised on some of the big trends in our market through a winning combination of great service to intermediaries and excellent value for customers and members.

"I hope to build on these cornerstones of success and ensure that Royal London builds on its mutual status remaining synonymous with great service and value."

Royal London is the largest mutual life, pensions and investments company in the UK.

It has group funds under management of €132.2bn, provides around 8.8 million policies and employs some 3,745 people.

Back in January, the life insurance and pensions firm opened an Irish subsidiary as a direct result of Brexit.

It said the Irish subsidiary will allow it to continue to compete for new life insurance business in Ireland, and to administer existing Irish and German policies.

These were bought by customers who lived outside the UK, and may be impacted by Brexit.

The firm, formerly called Caledonian Life in Ireland, has had a presence in Dublin since 1824.