The revered name of Standard Life — which began life in Edinburgh in 1825 — will return to the front in March 2026 when Phoenix Group Holdings plc is rebranded. Standard Life was once one of Britain’s strongest mutual pensions and investment companies before its disastrous demutualisation in the early 2000s. It has been a sub-brand of Phoenix Group along with SunLife.
Andy Briggs, Phoenix’s Group Chief Executive Officer, said the Standard Life name brings “our most trusted brand to the forefront and demonstrates our commitment to helping customers secure a better retirement.”
The company is now managing £5bn of £39bn annuities portfolio in-house, and are currently preparing to in-house a further c.£20bn. The firm has received FCA approval for its in-house retail advice proposition, a key milestone and enables imminent launch under the revived Standard Life name.
The company reported a 5 per cent growth in average assets under administration to £187.9bn, and 20% IFRS adjusted operating profit growth to £179m.
“This is a strong first half performance with progress against all key financial metrics we use to drive the business, demonstrating continued momentum towards our 2026 targets. We are increasingly well placed to serve our customers’ retirement needs and create further customer and shareholder value as we fulfil our vision to become the UK’s leading retirement savings and income business,” he said.
“We’ve strengthened our balance sheet and continued to invest in our market-leading Pensions and Savings and Retirement Solutions businesses. Our strategic delivery includes moving ahead with our advice proposition and in-housing the management of annuity-backing assets to benefit from our scaled asset management capabilities. We support around 12 million customers in managing over £295bn in assets under administration,” he stated.
The declared 2025 Interim dividend of 27.35 pence per share is expected to be paid on 30 October 2025.
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In response: Nick Sherrard, manging director of Label Sessions, said: “The transition of Phoenix into Standard Life has been the worst-kept secret in the industry. The original move to acquire the Standard Life brand from what is now Aberdeen, though, looks like an incredible bargain. Or, to put it another way, the Standard Life brand name was a massively undervalued asset.
“Brand recognition and trust are both very hard and hugely expensive for a company to build, but Phoenix has managed to become Standard Life simply and inexpensively. The new owners will reap the rewards of years of investment made by shareholders of Aberdeen and there are lots of possibilities for the new Standard Life in the future.
“The defenestration of the brand that was Standard Life and is now Aberdeen is going to be a business school case study for many years to come.
“Aberdeen is left with big brand issues that it will need to face into fast. Naming is an area that is absolutely key to a brand’s success, but leadership teams are often much more comfortable talking about visual design. Hopefully all that has happened in the various homes of Standard Life will show leaders the risk of that.”
