Standard Life workplace pensions AUM exceeds £150bn
Standard Life today said assets in its workplace pensions business have passed £150bn, supported by a series of product and investment strategy initiatives across its Pensions & Savings franchise.
Pensions & Savings, which Standard Life describes as a strategic focus within Phoenix Group, manages around £190bn of customers’ savings across three key trading channels.
As part of its workplace strategy, Standard Life is preparing to launch Future Opportunities, a new alternative pension default fund underpinned by an allocation to private assets. The Future Opportunities default fund will be available to workplace employers and scheme members. Gail Izat, managing director of workplace at Standard Life, is responsible for the workplace channel.
Phoenix Group, Standard Life’s parent, was an original signatory of the Mansion House Compact. Phoenix Group was also one of 17 pension providers that signed the Mansion House Accord, which set out commitments on investment in UK productive finance.
Standard Life expects to implement its Sustainability Improvers labelled funds approach in early 2025, with over 75% of Sustainable Multi Asset investments expected to benefit from the change. The move follows an earlier transition in which Standard Life moved 1.5 million customers into sustainable strategies between 2020 and 2022. The sustainability labelling work is led by Callum Stewart, head of investment proposition development at Standard Life.
Alongside its workplace and sustainable investment initiatives, Standard Life has continued to build out its defined benefit risk transfer franchise. Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group, completed a £1.5bn bulk purchase annuity transaction with the Compass Group Pension Plan. The Compass Group Pension Plan buy‑in, which transacted in December 2024, secures the benefits of over 14,000 pensioner members. The same transaction also secures the benefits of over 11,000 deferred members. The defined benefit solutions business is led by Kieran Mistry, director of defined benefit solutions at Standard Life.
--- Sources: https://www.thephoenixgroup.com/ https://www.standardlife.co.uk/about/press-releases/standard-life-buy-in-compass-group-pension-plan https://www.standardlife.co.uk/about/press-releases/sl-launch-next-gen-private-markets-default-strategy
