Standard Life

Standard Life Plc has set up a partnership with a consortium led by CVC Capital Partners Plc and Prudential Financial Inc. This agreement represents a new industry tie-up between an insurer and private capital firms. The goal of the collaboration is to enter the country’s growing pension risk-transfer market.

Standard Life, a retirement company, warns that an inheritance tax raid is undermining confidence in pensions. The firm highlights concerns about the impact of tax policies on pension security.

UK pension insurers are increasing their exposure to opaque private credit assets. S&P Global has issued a warning about the risks of hard-to-price private assets, which now constitute over 10% of portfolios at Legal & General (L&G), Standard Life, and Just Group.

Andy Burnham, Britain’s soon-to-be prime minister, proposes war bonds to fund the UK military, a concept previously dismissed by outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The idea, supported by Burnham’s adviser Andy Haldane and the Liberal Democrats, aims to attract public savings through patriotic appeal and tax incentives, with potential to raise £20 billion for defense.

Aegon, a Dutch financial services group, has sold its 200-year-old UK business to Standard Life for £2bn, creating a pensions and savings group with 16 million customers and £480bn in assets. The deal enables Aegon to refocus on its US market, where it will rebrand as Transamerica.