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Standard Life

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For other companies, see Standard Life (Canada) and Standard Insurance Company.

Standard Life Assurance Limited.
Company typePublic limited company
IndustryFinancial services
Founded1825; 199 years ago (1825)
HeadquartersEdinburgh, Scotland, UK
Number of employees
6,431 (2015) Edit this on Wikidata
ParentPhoenix 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

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1825–2010

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Standard Life Assurance Company's Act 1925
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn Act to re-incorporate the Standard Life Assurance Company to provide for the control and management of the Company as a mutual company and for the conversion of its share capital into perpetual stock to confer further powers on the Company to repeal existing Acts and for other purposes.
Citation15 & 16 Geo. 5. c. xlii
Dates
Royal assent31 July 1925
Other legislation
Repealed byStandard Life Assurance Company Act 1991
Status: Repealed

The Standard Life Assurance Company was established in 1825 and 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]

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.[9]

2011–2015

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Head office building located in Edinburgh, Scotland

In February 2013, the company 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.[10] 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.[11] Towards the end of the month, Standard Life completed the acquisition for a fee of £390 million.[12]

In September 2014, Standard Life agreed to sell its Canadian operations to The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Manulife Financial Corporation.[13] 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.[14] 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.[15]

In February 2015, Standard Life announced it was launching a wholly-owned, UK financial advice business.[16] In doing so, it confirmed that it had entered into an agreement with Skipton Building Society to purchase Pearson Jones,[17] 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.[18]

2016–2017

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In July 2016, a property investment fund managed by Standard Life Investments froze withdrawals after experiencing liquidity issues.[19][20]

In March 2017, Standard Life reached an agreement to merge with Aberdeen Asset Management, in an all-share merger, subject to shareholder approval.[21] It was announced that the merged company was to be named Standard Life Aberdeen.[22] This was achieved by Standard Life being renamed Standard Life Aberdeen on 14 August 2017.[23]

2018 - 2021

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In 2018, Phoenix Group Holdings plc acquired Standard Life from Standard Life Aberdeen plc for £2.9 billion.[24]

In May 2021, Phoenix Group acquired the 'Standard Life' brand [25] and in July 2021 Aberdeen Standard Life Group companies rebranded as ‘abrdn’.[26]

Controversy

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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 around 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

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References

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  1. ^ "Standard Life history: One of the first Empire builders". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Phoenix brings in Aegon investment head to manage Standard Life brand". Corporate Adviser. 23 February 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  3. ^ a b 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. ^ "E-mail reveals Standard Life 'smeared' critic". FOIA Centre. 25 February 2006.
  10. ^ Nicole Blackmore (27 February 2013). "Standard Life Wealth acquires Newton's private client division". Fundweb.
  11. ^ Richa Naidu (24 March 2014). "Standard Life in advanced talks to buy Phoenix asset management unit". Reuters.
  12. ^ Simon Jessop (26 March 2014). "Standard Life ramps up fund business with Ignis acquisition". Reuters.
  13. ^ Manulife to buy Standard Life's Canadian assets for $3.7 billion. Reuters, 4 September 2014
  14. ^ "CityAM News - Disposal of Canadian Companies". CityAM. Archived from the original on 29 May 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  15. ^ "BBC News - Standard Life reports sharp rise in operating profit". BBC News. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  16. ^ "London Stock Exchange, Market News". London Stock Exchange. 6 February 2015. Archived from the original on 29 May 2015.
  17. ^ "Standard Life completes purchase of Pearson Jones in £1bn advice play". Professional Adviser. 11 May 2015.
  18. ^ "Standard Life names restricted advice business 1825". Professional Adviser. 1 May 2015.
  19. ^ Osborne, Hilary; Treanor, Jill; Osborne, Hilary; Treanor, Jill (4 July 2016). "Standard Life shuts property fund amid rush of Brexit withdrawals". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  20. ^ Williams-Grut, Oscar (5 July 2016). "'2016 is shaping up to be a rerun of 2007:' A giant UK property fund is stopping people taking money out". Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  21. ^ "Aberdeen Asset Management and Standard Life confirm merger terms". BBC News. 6 March 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  22. ^ "CMA clears Standard Life-Aberdeen Asset Management merger - BBC News". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  23. ^ "Standard Life (UK): Merger with Aberdeen Asset Management (UK) - Update". FTSE. 9 August 2017. Archived from the original on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  24. ^ "Edinburgh pensions operation supports 2,800 jobs in city". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  25. ^ Cohn, Michael Shields, Simon Jessop, Carolyn (6 December 2019). "Britain's Phoenix to buy Swiss Re's ReAssure business for $4.1 billion" – via www.reuters.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ "Standard Life Aberdeen becomes abrdn as it moves to 'single global brand'". Investment Week. 5 July 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  27. ^ Treanor, Jill (26 January 2007). "Standard Life boss apologises for making racist remark". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  28. ^ Standard Life in bid to axe 1,000 jobs Evening Times, 23 March 2007
  29. ^ a b "Fury at £5m for Standard Life bosses". Edinburghnews.scotsman.com. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  30. ^ BBC (27 February 2014). "Scottish independence: Standard Life draws up 'Yes' contingency plan". BBC. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
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