Pearl can trace its roots back to 1857 when the Pearl Loan Company started operating out of a London public house called the Royal Oak, opposite the famous Whitechapel Bell Foundry. In 1862, the Pearl Life Assurance and Sick Benefit Society was set up nearby and a couple of years later, in 1864, the two companies joined together to form the Pearl Life Assurance Loan and Investment Company Limited.

The new company grew rapidly and, after only four years, it had 59 locations in London and 28 in provincial towns.

From this point on, Pearl concentrated on weekly premium life assurance, known as 'industrial insurance', although the company also started collecting annual premiums in 1875. Most policies offered funeral expenses for the tiny sum of one penny a week, although some were available for only a halfpenny.

Over the next 100 years, Pearl evolved to become a major force in life insurance and financial services provision and, in March 1990, the organisation was taken over by Australian financial giant AMP, then the largest takeover of a British financial institution by an overseas organisation.

In December 2003, Pearl, NPI and London Life were de-merged from AMP to become part of a new UK company called HHG.

Twelve months later, in December 2004, the HHG board accepted an offer of over £1 billion for Pearl, NPI and London Life and, in April 2005, the three companies became part of the newly formed Pearl Group Limited.

Pearl Group is backed by two large investment organisations, Sun Capital Partners and TDR Capital, both of which are committed, experienced and long-term investors, focused on the key areas of importance to policyholders, namely long-term investment returns, financial security and service.