Standard Life

1825–2010

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]

2011–2015

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.[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 financial advice business.[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]

Phoenix Group Holdings plc became Standard Life plc in March 2026.[26]