Standard Life

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For other companies, see Standard Life (Canada) and Standard Insurance Company.
Standard Life
Public limited company
Industry Financial services
Founded 1825; 199 years ago (1825)
Headquarters Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Parent Phoenix Group

Standard Life is a life assurance, pensions and long-terms savings company in the UK which is owned by Phoenix Group.[1][2]

History

1825–2010

The Standard Life Assurance Company was established in 1825 and was reincorporated as a mutual assurance company in 1925.[3] During the 19th century it opened offices in Canada, India, China and, Uruguay.[3]

In 2006 demutualisation took place and the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange.[4] The company sold Standard Life Bank plc to Barclays plc in January 2010[5] and then acquired the remaining 75 per cent stake in Threesixty, a financial advisory support business, that it did not already own for an undisclosed sum in March 2010.[6] It sold its healthcare division to Discovery Holdings, a South African business, in May 2010[7] and went on to buy Focus Solutions Group, a financial software company, for £42m in December 2010.[8]

2011–2015

Head office building located in Edinburgh, Scotland

In February 2013, the company announced that it had acquired the private client division of Newton Management Limited, a UK wealth management unit of BNY Mellon, in a deal worth up to £83.5 million.[9] In March 2014, it was announced that Standard Life was in advanced talks to purchase rival Phoenix Group Holdings' Ignis Asset Management for around £400 million.[10] Towards the end of the month, Standard Life completed the acquisition for a fee of £390 million.[11]

In September 2014, Standard Life agreed to sell its Canadian operations to The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Manulife Financial Corporation.[12] It completed this sale on 30 January 2015 for a cash consideration of C$4.0bn. The transaction included a Global Collaboration Agreement where Manulife will seek to distribute Standard Life Investments' funds in Canada, the US and Asia.[13] In a round-up of 2014 business, pre-tax profits rose by 19% to £604m, fee-based revenue during the year grew 14% to 1.43bn, and over 340,000 auto-enrolment customers were added. The pay and bonus of Chief Executive, David Nish, rose by 23% to almost £5.5m.[14]

In February 2015, Standard Life announced it was launching a wholly owned, UK-wide, financial advice business saying it was "responding to fundamental changes that were driving unprecedented demand for advice from customers".[15] In doing so, it confirmed that it had entered into an agreement with Skipton Building Society to purchase Pearson Jones,[16] a firm of financial advisers and paraplanners, and this acquisition was completed in May 2015 when the name of its new financial advice business was announced as "1825" – a reference to the year Standard Life was founded.[17]

2016–2017

In July 2016, a property investment fund managed by Standard Life Investments froze withdrawals after experiencing liquidity issues.[18][19]

In March 2017, Standard Life reached an agreement to merge with Aberdeen Asset Management, in an all-share merger, subject to shareholder approval.[20] It was announced that the merged company was to be named Standard Life Aberdeen.[21] This was achieved by Standard Life being renamed Standard Life Aberdeen on 14 August 2017.[22]

2018 - 2021

In 2018, Phoenix Group Holdings plc acquired Standard Life from Standard Life Aberdeen plc for £2.9 billion.[23]

In May 2021, Phoenix Group acquired the 'Standard Life' brand [24] and in July 2021 Aberdeen Standard Life Group companies rebranded as ‘abrdn’.[25]

Controversy

In January 2006, Standard Life were accused of smearing a policy-holder, Michael Hogan, who was not happy with the way the company was being run. An e-mail sent to Standard Life executives and advisors (which was disclosed under the Data Protection Act) revealed an attempt to discredit him.[26]

In January 2007, the head of Standard Life's life and pensions business, Trevor Matthews, used the racist phrase "nigger in the woodpile" while giving a presentation at one of the company's Edinburgh offices. After issuing an apology, Mr Matthews remained in his job and no disciplinary action was taken.[27]

In March 2007 the company announced it would cut 1,000 jobs in an attempt to save an additional £100 million per year in costs.[28] One month later it was highlighted in the company's annual report that three of Standard Life's top executives (Sandy Crombie, Keith Skeoch and Trevor Matthews) were awarded more than £5 million in pay.[29] A Standard Life spokesman defended the awards, citing the leadership's efforts in turning round the company's fortunes.[29]

In February 2014, Standard Life announced that it may move parts of their operations outside Scotland in the event of Scottish independence, if it was necessary to do so.[30]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Standard Life history: One of the first Empire builders The Scotsman, 2 September 2010
  4. ↑ Standard Life policyholders rush to cash in on flotation The Guardian, 24 September 2006
  5. ↑ Barclays buys Standard Life Bank for £226m Daily Telegraph, 26 October 2009
  6. ↑ Standard Life takes full control of Threesixty The Scotsman, 15 March 2010
  7. ↑ Standard Life sells healthcare division BBC News, 11 May 2010
  8. ↑ Standard Life buys Focus for £42m BBC News, 7 December 2010
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Manulife to buy Standard Life's Canadian assets for $3.7 billion. Reuters, 4 September 2014
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Standard Life in bid to axe 1,000 jobs Evening Times, 23 March 2007
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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