The acquisition of Standard Life Aberdeen’s UK and European insurance arm will net closed book insurer Phoenix Group around £6bn ($8.35bn, €6.8bn) in offshore bonds, Phoenix Group’s head of corporate communications, Shellie Wells, confirmed to International Adviser.
Following the sale of Standard Life Aberdeen’s insurance arm to consolidator Phoenix Group for £3bn ($4.2bn, €3.4bn), the company will have no insurance business at all, a spokesperson confirmed to International Adviser.
Phoenix Life customers with small annuities in payment will be able to exchange the regular income they receive for a one-off taxable lump sum.
There is a crisis brewing in the retirement income market where there is a lot of freedom but little choice, according to a study published Monday.
Old Mutual, Prudential and Abbey Life are among five companies still under investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority over concerns about the transparency of exit and penalty charges in the firms’ closed-book life insurance policies.
Phoenix Group, Britain’s largest closed life fund consolidator, doubled operating profit during the first six months of 2017 as it said the cash earned from the Axa acquisition last year had been generated more rapidly than expected.
Having bought Axa Wealth and Abbey Life in 2016, Phoenix Life chief executive Andy Moss tells International Adviser about the group’s consolidation history and how it brings all of its new business on board.
Phoenix Group is eyeing further acquisitions after Abbey Life and Axa Wealth added £22bn ($27.3bn, €25.4bn) in assets under management and more than 1.6 million policies to the life company consolidator’s books in 2016.
In spite of warnings from government and the pensions industry, 7% of UK adults said they had released some or all of their pension savings as cash after being cold contacted, research from Phoenix Group has found.
Closed book provider Phoenix has said integrating the recently-bought pensions and protection businesses from Axa has generated more than £117m (€135m, $143m) in cash.
Deutsche Bank has confirmed that it is to sell its Abbey Life business to closed book life and pension provider Phoenix Life Holdings, for £935m (€1.08bn, $1.21bn).
Closed book pension provider Phoenix Group has confirmed it is in “advanced” talks with Deutsche Bank about the acquisition of life company Abbey Life.
