Standard Life; proposal to transfer all business to Phoenix Life Ltd

CharlieC2210

I just got a letter from Standard Life, with whom I have my pension invested, telling me of the above, and assuring me there was nothing to worry about, that nothing significant will change for me. Anyone else here with Standard Life and if so, any thoughts?

flaneurs_lobster

I have a personal pension with Standard Life and while I haven't received such a letter I would welcome any change that would mean my investments don't decrease in value by 10% in a year while being charged 0.85% for the privilege.

(Yes, I know, the investment decisions are mine and SL are just the managers yadda, yadda but even so....)

Albermarle

I have a pension pot with SL, but not seen this letter yet.

However SL have been owned by Phoenix for a couple of years now. At first there was no change at all, but now on their app and website it says clearly they are part of the Phoenix group, although the functionality of both has stayed the same. . Phoenix seem to want to keep supporting the SL brand, who have actually been advertisng for new clients recently. However I think there have been some moves to outsource some of the customer service.

I have no worries regarding the financial security of my money, but will be watching out for any deterioration of service levels/product offering, or any change in the fees discount I currently enjoy.

DullGreyGuy

Standard Life is already part of the Phoenix Group and so its just consolidating between two of its legal entities and has been going for a fair length of time as the proposed Part VII transfer were outlined in their Dec 2021 Strategy update to investors, the law has a set steps of activities that have to happen before contacting impacted customers.

Given its an intra-group transfer, not going overseas etc then its hard to get too worked up about it... plus by this point the Independent Expert, PRA and FCA have all indicated they'd support it and so chances of it not going through are very small

CharlieC2210

flaneurs_lobster said:

I have a personal pension with Standard Life and while I haven't received such a letter I would welcome any change that would mean my investments don't decrease in value by 10% in a year while being charged 0.85% for the privilege.

(Yes, I know, the investment decisions are mine and SL are just the managers yadda, yadda but even so....)

Thanks. Sorry to hear that, sounds like a nightmare. How long has that being going on, the 10% decrease? I don't monitor mine carefully. Is Standard Life not very good generally?

CharlieC2210

Albermarle said:

I have a pension pot with SL, but not seen this letter yet.

However SL have been owned by Phoenix for a couple of years now. At first there was no change at all, but now on their app and website it says clearly they are part of the Phoenix group, although the functionality of both has stayed the same. . Phoenix seem to want to keep supporting the SL brand, who have actually been advertisng for new clients recently. However I think there have been some moves to outsource some of the customer service.

I have no worries regarding the financial security of my money, but will be watching out for any deterioration of service levels/product offering, or any change in the fees discount I currently enjoy.

Thanks. The letter said the aim is for it to happen in October of this year. Deterioration of service etc, and increase in fees doesn't sound good.

dunstonh

CharlieC2210 said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

I have a personal pension with Standard Life and while I haven't received such a letter I would welcome any change that would mean my investments don't decrease in value by 10% in a year while being charged 0.85% for the privilege.

(Yes, I know, the investment decisions are mine and SL are just the managers yadda, yadda but even so....)

Thanks. Sorry to hear that, sounds like a nightmare. How long has that being going on, the 10% decrease? I don't monitor mine carefully. Is Standard Life not very good generally?

SL are perfectly fine (both the plans going to Phoenix and the plans remaining with Abrdn as not all of the Standard Life plans are going to Phoenix)

There is no nightmare in what flaneurs_lobster said.    And the 2022 losses had nothing to do with SL (insert name of any provider).  2022 losses occurred due to market events.  Just as gains are due to market events.

Albermarle

Thanks. The letter said the aim is for it to happen in October of this year. Deterioration of service etc, and increase in fees doesn't sound good.

I did not say this would happen, only that I would keep an eye out for any changes. It might go the opposite way.

Thanks. Sorry to hear that, sounds like a nightmare. How long has that being going on, the 10% decrease? I don't monitor mine carefully. Is Standard Life not very good generally?

If you read through the forum recently there are numerous posts from people who are shocked/disappointed that their pension pot has gone down . Normally they never  take into account that over 10 years + ( which is the timescale you should be looking at ) they have gone up significantly.

A drop of 10% is far from a nightmare in investing terms and is nothing to do with Standard Life. More to do with President Putin and a financial hangover from the big crash of 2008 ( now that was a nightmare)

dunstonh

CharlieC2210 said:

Albermarle said:

I have a pension pot with SL, but not seen this letter yet.

However SL have been owned by Phoenix for a couple of years now. At first there was no change at all, but now on their app and website it says clearly they are part of the Phoenix group, although the functionality of both has stayed the same. . Phoenix seem to want to keep supporting the SL brand, who have actually been advertisng for new clients recently. However I think there have been some moves to outsource some of the customer service.

I have no worries regarding the financial security of my money, but will be watching out for any deterioration of service levels/product offering, or any change in the fees discount I currently enjoy.

Thanks. The letter said the aim is for it to happen in October of this year. Deterioration of service etc, and increase in fees doesn't sound good.

I have found Phoenix have improved service with most of the books they have bought over the decades.      Charges shouldn't change and Phoenix retain the agreed terms.

Marcon

flaneurs_lobster said:

I have a personal pension with Standard Life and while I haven't received such a letter I would welcome any change that would mean my investments don't decrease in value by 10% in a year while being charged 0.85% for the privilege.

(Yes, I know, the investment decisions are mine and SL are just the managers yadda, yadda but even so....)

Even so....what? As you acknowledge, you are the one who has chosen to be in funds charging 0.85% pa when there are much cheaper funds available, including within the SL range of funds.

As to the decrease in value, SL has no more control over world events and their impact on financial markets than any other provider.

CharlieC2210 said:

Thanks. Sorry to hear that, sounds like a nightmare. How long has that being going on, the 10% decrease? I don't monitor mine carefully. Is Standard Life not very good generally?

There is no nightmare; just hyperbole and possibly a complete lack of understanding of what's been going on for the last year or two.

DullGreyGuy

CharlieC2210 said:

Albermarle said:

I have a pension pot with SL, but not seen this letter yet.

However SL have been owned by Phoenix for a couple of years now. At first there was no change at all, but now on their app and website it says clearly they are part of the Phoenix group, although the functionality of both has stayed the same. . Phoenix seem to want to keep supporting the SL brand, who have actually been advertisng for new clients recently. However I think there have been some moves to outsource some of the customer service.

I have no worries regarding the financial security of my money, but will be watching out for any deterioration of service levels/product offering, or any change in the fees discount I currently enjoy.

Thanks. The letter said the aim is for it to happen in October of this year. Deterioration of service etc, and increase in fees doesn't sound good.

The legal affect of a Part VII transfer is where your contract reads "standard life limited" it is now to be interpreted as "phoenix life limited". No other terms change inc fees etc. 

For them to be able to increase fees then your contract would have to have a clause already that allows them to do that and given both have the same parent company, probably the same staff making commercial decisions etc if such a clause exists its as likely to exercised under the current entity as the new one. 

The other poster is basically lamenting their choice of fund and not really commenting on either company