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Phoenix Group

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Phoenix Group Holdings plc
Company typePublic
LSE: PHNX
FTSE 100 component
IndustryInsurance
Founded1857
HeadquartersLondon, England, UK
Area served
United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany
Key people
Sir Nicholas Lyons
(Chairman)
Andy Briggs
(Group Chief Executive)
RevenueDecrease £4,861 million (2023)[1]
Increase £278 million (2023)[1]
Increase £(88) million (2023)[1]
Number of employees
8,165 (2022)[1]
Websitewww.thephoenixgroup.com

Phoenix Group Holdings plc (formerly Pearl Group plc) is a provider of insurance services based in London, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

History

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The company was founded in 1857 as The Pearl Loan Company and operated from the Royal Oak public house opposite the Whitechapel Bell Foundry.[2] It changed its name to The Pearl Assurance Company in 1914,[2] when it moved to 252 High Holborn where it was based until moving its head office to Peterborough in 1989.[3]

In 1990, it was acquired by the Australian insurance group, AMP, and in 2003, Pearl, NPI and London Life Association were demerged from AMP to become part of Henderson Group.[4]

In 2005, the Pearl Group was bought from Henderson Group by Sun Capital Partners (a business in which Hugh Osmond is a leading partner)[5] and TDR Capital.[4] It acquired Resolution Life (including its Phoenix Assurance operations) in 2008.[6] In 2009, the business was acquired by the Liberty Acquisition Holdings (International) Company (a vehicle controlled by billionaire Nicolas Berggruen), which subsequently renamed itself Pearl Group.[7]

In 2010, Pearl Group rebranded as Phoenix Group Holdings.[8] In March 2014, the business sold Ignis Asset Management to Standard Life Investments, the asset management arm of Standard Life.[9]

In 2018, Phoenix Group agreed to acquire Standard Life Assurance from Standard Life Aberdeen for £2.9 billion. As part of the transaction Standard Life Aberdeen retained a stake in the combined group.[10]

In 2020, Phoenix completed the acquisition of fellow closed book specialist ReAssure Group from Swiss Re.[11]

In 2021, it was announced that Phoenix had acquired the rights to the Standard Life brand and had undertaken additional steps to simplify the relationship with Standard Life Aberdeen that had developed since the acquisition of the Standard Life business three years previously.[12]

Operations

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Phoenix Group comprises a number of regulated life companies in the UK:[13]

  • Phoenix Life, a closed life insurance business covering Phoenix Life and Phoenix Life Assurance (former Pearl Assurance)
  • Phoenix Wealth, the UK-based pensions and investments previously offered by AXA Wealth
  • Standard Life
  • ReAssure, covering ReAssure and ReAssure Life (formerly Old Mutual Wealth Life Assurance) and also including Ark Life
  • SunLife
  • SunLife of Canada UK[14]
  • Phoenix Corporate Investment Services [15]

plus other unregulated businesses:

  • Vebnet

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Annual Results 2023". Phoenix Group. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b Winder, Robert (2014). Bloody Foreigners: The Story of Immigration to Britain. Hachette Digital. ISBN 978-0748123964.
  3. ^ Historic England. "Pearl Assurance Company (1378890)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  4. ^ a b "AMP wins as UK spinoff sells life funds for $2.6bn". Sydney Morning Herald. 11 December 2004. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  5. ^ "Rising of Sun is new dawn for Osmond". Daily Telegraph. 27 January 2002. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  6. ^ "Resolution board says yes to £5bn Pearl bid". The Guardian. 17 November 2007. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  7. ^ "Bondholders threaten to veto Pearl flotation". The Times. 1 July 2009. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  8. ^ Phoenix Group Holdings Group transition Phoenix Group Holdings Audited Results for the year ended 31 December 2009 Archived 11 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "Standard Life Investments buys fund manager Ignis for £390m". BBC News. 26 March 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  10. ^ Cohn, Michael Shields, Simon Jessop, Carolyn (6 December 2019). "Britain's Phoenix to buy Swiss Re's ReAssure business for $4.1 billion". Reuters – via www.reuters.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ "Phoenix completes £3.3bn purchase of rival ReAssure". www.professionalpensions.com. 23 July 2020.
  12. ^ "Standard Life Aberdeen Simplifies and Extends its Strategic Partnership With Phoenix Group". Funds Society. 26 February 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  13. ^ "Our companies". Phoenix Group. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  14. ^ "Sun Life of Canada".
  15. ^ "Phoenix Corporate Investment Services".
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