Standard Life to return to stock exchange as Phoenix Group unveils rebrand

Phoenix Group is to change its name to Standard Life as it looks to “bring its most trusted brand to the forefront”.

The group, which has around 12 million customers and almost £300 billion in assets under administration, said it would rename the business in March next year.

Standard Life was founded in Edinburgh in 1825. Phoenix Group bought the Standard Life Assurance business in 2018, then in 2021 it acquired the historic Standard Life brand after funds giant Standard Life Aberdeen opted to change its name to Abrdn - a name that has now reverted back to Aberdeen. Standard Life was last on the stock market following its 2006 demutualisation.

The historic Standard Life business was founded in Edinburgh in 1825.

Half-year figures from Phoenix showed that the group’s underlying operating profits jumped by a quarter to £451 million in the six months to June 30.

Group chief executive Andy Briggs said: “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.

“Changing our name from Phoenix Group Holdings plc to Standard Life plc in March 2026 brings our most trusted brand to the forefront and demonstrates our commitment to helping customers secure a better retirement.”

The name change also “reduces duplication and costs, and it supports our organic growth strategy”, the group added.

Phoenix - which claims to have one in five adults as customers of its various brands - said retail net outflows of cash improved to £4.4bn from £4.6bn a year earlier. It also ramped up full-year cost savings targets to around £160m, up by £35m, after it achieved £100m in cuts over the first half.

Briggs said the final six months would be “just as busy as the first”. He told investors: “The UK retirement savings and income market is huge and structurally growing and we are increasingly well placed to take advantage of the attractive opportunities it presents and deliver strong returns to our shareholders, supported by changing to Standard Life plc in March 2026.”

AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould noted: “In the UK, the market reacted negatively as insurer Phoenix renamed itself Standard Life, a brand it acquired four-and-a-half years ago. The sell-off, which came as the company reported a resilient set of first-half results, comes off the back of a decent run for the shares.”

Phoenix Group pointed to strong growth in operating profit at its “retirement solutions” business in the first half. Standard Life completed its portfolio of innovative retirement income products with the launch of the Guaranteed Lifetime Income plan. It also launched Annuity Desk for Standard Life customers to support a “digital customer experience”.

Briggs added: “We achieved £2.8bn of net inflows in Workplace in [the first half] while our retirement solutions business, where we expect to deploy up to circa £200m of capital into annuities in 2025, is operating well and has a solid pipeline for [the second half].

“Having re-entered this competitive market in late 2023 we delivered individual annuity sales of £600m in this period.”

Historic 200-year-old Standard Life brand name sold to Phoenix Group - Edinburgh staff to transfer