Details of a new Standard Life product for the Hong Kong market, which had been expected to be unveiled at the same time as the rebranding, were not revealed, and are understood to be still under wraps, pending the obtaining of necessary regulatory approvals.
However, an expansion of Standard Life’s online facilities for both financial advisers and their clients was presented alongside news of the rebranding. Among other things, clients and advisers may now peruse and tweak their Standard Life investment portfolios from their iPhones and iPads as well as online, thanks to new ‘apps’ available free from Apple, while apps for other brands of mobile telephones are understood to be in the process of being developed, Standard Life said.
The rebranding of Standard Life’s Asian subsidiary followed the announcement, in February, by the company’s corporate office in Edinburgh that it was changing its “visual identity” for the first time since 1993, which it said it was doing in a way that reflected “the investment being made in the business now and in the future”.
The change is being rolled out to the various markets in which Standard Life operates, with Hong Kong third after the UK and Germany.
Key to this new “visual identity” is a new logo, which is similar to but simpler than its predecessor. (To see the new logo, click here to visit the company’s website.)
Gone are the navy blue, yellow and white colour-blocked sections above and below the words “Standard Life”, replaced by a single, yellow triangle above the "e" in "Life", at a rakish, upward-pointing angle that is thought to encapsulate the company’s new-branding ethos of “the way forward”.
‘Changes will boost engagement’
Roy Halliday, chief executive of Standard Life (Asia), said the changes to the company’s image and online presence would “significantly improve the way in which we engage with customers and intermediaries”.
As for the new online functionality, he added: “Now, clients may go online, look at their up-to-date investments and portfolio, and switch funds around as desired through any one of those three mediums – their computer, their iPhone or an iPad.
“Advisers, who have much more detailed advisory tools, may build customised portfolios for their clients, and also compare those portfolios against anything that’s happening in the marketplace, either to see if it’s competitive, or if they want to change the risk level, for example, if they want to have more or less risk,” he added.
“These online tools make all of that very easy.”
Standard Life is among a number of life insurance companies and other asset managers that have been investing heavily recently in their online presence, as advisers and clients increasingly move their portfolios to internet-based entities of one kind or another. The trend is being driven in the UK, and rippling out into other markets by companies that have global businesses, such as Standard Life.
In its first quarter results statement in April, Standard Life said the number of customers on its UK wrap platform had grown by 15% in the three months to the end of March to 65,700, "with the number of IFA firms using the platform increasing by 7% to 874".
It added that Adviserzone, its adviser platform, had received 180,000 visits in March, "up 65% over the same period last year".
No. 5 in Hong Kong market
Helped by new products and a strong reputation among Hong Kong locals – who account for more than 95% of its clients, according to Halliday – Standard Life has boosted its market share in Hong Kong, to fifth place, from 13th in 2009.
Its annualised premium earnings in so-called Class C investment-linked insurance products leapt to HK$540.2m ($69.3m, £42.2m) last year, from HK$44.2m in 2007, with "at least" a 30% increase expected in 2011.
