Standard Life has appointed Chris Hudson to the newly created role of managing director of retail intermediary.
In this new role he will be responsible for expanding Standard Life’s intermediary adviser channel. This will include responsibility for distribution strategy and technical engagement and support for retail advisers across the UK.
He will report to Colin Williams, managing director of pensions and savings at Standard Life.
Hudson joins from LV=, and has previously held senior management roles at Aegon, Friends Life and Aviva. Standard LIfe says that Hudson has a good track record of establishing new and innovative adviser propositions in established markets, and of developing new product categories in mature market segments. He led the introduction of variable annuities to the UK and created market-leading offshore bond distribution with UK advisers.
Since the acquisition of the Standard Life brand, by Phoenix Group in 2021 there has been significant investment in the business, as it looks to increase its presence in several key markets including workplace pensions, bulk purchase annuities and lifetime mortgages.
The open division of which Standard Life is a significant part contributed £1.2 billion of long-term cash generation in 2021 and has been identified as strategically important to the Phoenix Group.
Colin Williams, managing director of pensions and savings at Standard Life said the appointment signalled Standard LIfe’s “renewed commitment to the adviser market” when it hopes to build on the company’s long heritage and experience of working alongside advisers and their clients.
