Standard Life staff in Caribbean junket

Published on Wednesday 25 March 2009 21:12

DESPITE crashing stock markets and job cutbacks, sales personnel at the insurance giant Standard Life are still enjoying the high life, with a company-paid break this week at the luxury Carlisle Bay Resort Hotel on the Caribbean island of Antigua.

About ten Standard Life staff, plus wives and partners, are enjoying the "sales incentive trip" in one of the most sought-after hotels in the world.

And The Scotsman has learned that a party of 12 Standard Life healthcare product sales staff is due to fly out for a week's holiday in May, with four trips in all booked for 2009.

Rooms at the luxury Carlisle Bay Resort start at $805 (550) per night, extending to $1,250. Lunch and dinner are extra.

Together with flights and connecting travel, the perk is thought to be costing the insurance company close to 50,000 per trip.

News of the Standard Life party, which earlier this week was enjoying private drinks cruises round the bay, was passed to The Scotsman yesterday by a shareholder in the Edinburgh-based group.

"I think it's absolutely the wrong message to be sending when the group is cutting staff and costs", he said. "I'm horrified. And policyholders must be feeling even worse.

"This is utterly the wrong idea at this time. They do not seem to be on the same planet as the rest of us."

Barry Cameron, a spokesman for the company, confirmed the luxury Antigua breaks and said: "These were all arranged in 2008, and I can confirm that we are reviewing our plans for 2010."

In a formal statement, Standard Life said: "We hold a small number of incentive trips each year. These trips form part of a balanced remuneration package for staff who work in the distribution area of our business and are designed to incentivise and subsequently reward our very best performers."

The hotel, situated on the unspoilt south coast of Antigua (population 64,000), is a sister hotel of the prestigious One Aldwych in London. In addition to 82 ocean-facing suites, it boasts a gymnasium, personal training facilities, nine tennis courts and luxurious private dining room.

Beach balcony suites comprise a 730sq ft bedroom with king-sized bed and sitting area, plus separate study or second bedroom. Each room has a fully stocked minibar, Gaggia Expresso machine, daily fresh fruit delivery, a safe, satellite TV, broadband internet connection, air conditioning, ceiling fan and private balcony with luxurious day lounger.

Only last month, Standard Life announced it was cutting 195 jobs, or about 20 per cent of its UK sales division, in response to "a backdrop of unprecedented volatility in global markets" and changes affecting the way pensions and savings are sold. The group plans 47 redundancies in Scotland – 34 in Edinburgh and 13 in Glasgow.

The cuts are on top of a previously announced 100 million savings programme due to be completed by 2009.

The insurance giant has not received any taxpayer support and is trading profitably. However, shares in the group have tumbled by 48 per cent since the onset of the credit crisis and many investors with Standard Life equity products have suffered huge losses.

The widely held Standard Life Equity Income Trust is down 20 per cent over the past 12 months, while the firm's Property Income Investment Trust is down by 55 per cent and its European Private Equity fund has slumped by 83 per cent.

Figures earlier this month showed that, because of a fall in investment returns, the group went into a loss, under European reporting standards, of some 134 million. And funds under management fell by 12.2 billion to 156.8 billion.

Far from the ice-clinking cocktails in the bar of the Carlisle Bay Resort, shares in Standard Life fell 6.4p, or 3.5 per cent, to 177.7p yesterday.