Highlights and strategic approach
Some highlights from 2009
Standard Life Bank sold to Barclays Bank PLC
In October 2009, we announced the sale of Standard Life Bank - our UK mortgage and savings business - to Barclays Bank PLC. The sale, completed in January 2010 for £245m*, was designed to help us focus on our core long-term savings and investments business. The cash proceeds will be invested in the future of our business. We also have plans to work with Barclays UK Retail Banking to explore joint opportunities that support our core strengths in the long-term savings and investments sector - starting with a simplified pension product.
* The formal transfer took place on 1 January 2010, with an expected consideration of £245m, which is subject to adjustments resulting from the conclusion of the completion accounts of Standard Life Bank plc for the year ended 31 December 2009.
Working with the Bank of China
In September we announced that the Chinese Regulators were in the final stages of approving a business combination whereby Bank of China would take a majority stake in our Chinese joint venture, Heng An Standard Life. The company would then become a Chinese domestic insurance company. Discussions on the commercial details, together with any further approvals required, continue between the parties.
Standard Life Charitable Trust set up
In May 2009, Standard Life announced its intention to establish a charitable trust – using some of the shares that were not claimed at the time of our demutualisation. We are now pleased to confirm that the Standard Life Charitable Trust has received approval from the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator and HM Revenue & Customs. The Standard Life Charitable Trust will be formally launched in the next few months and further details of the Trust and its activities will be available at this time.
Our strategic approach
Driving greater value through growth
We will continue to drive shareholder value through being a leading, customer-centric business, focused on long-term savings and investment propositions. This means finding, acquiring and retaining valuable customers for mutual and sustained financial benefit.
Our strategic focus is to:
Build on our strength in our pension savings and corporate benefits markets, across all businesses delivering corporate benefits solutions to employers, and providing broader savings propositions to employees. Our Employee Wealth and Benefits Platform in the UK, supported by the capabilities we acquired with Vebnet, and our Canadian VIP Room, will be core to this.
Focus on the savings and investment needs of customers in our chosen segments, delivering propositions through a digitally enabled distribution strategy, with increased brand preference. Our recently-launched active money lifeplan in the UK is an example of broadening our propositions to meet the needs of a young customer set, therefore building long-term customer relationships from an earlier age.
Continue the growth of Standard Life Investments to become a global, high value-add investment manager, delivering superior performance over a wide range of products, asset classes and markets, and maximising the inflow of assets from our Group businesses. Our recent success with GARS (Global Absolute Return Strategies) is one example of this strategy in practice. We continue to investigate opportunities to bolster our participation in the Far East and US markets.
Maximise the value from our Joint Venture relationships in Asia to further grow shareholder value, through building a strong strategic partnership in China and the opportunity to increase our stake in our Indian Joint Venture.
For more information about our strategy see our Annual Report and Accounts 2009 at www.standardlife.com/ara
Related websites
Share portal
Annual Report and Accounts
Share price
2009 final dividend
8.09p per share
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David Nish Interview
Read about our Chief Executive’s vision for 2010 and more in his interview…
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