Standard Life’s workplace pension business grew significantly in the first half of the 2024, with net fund flows up 83 per cent on the same period last year.
These net new funds now stands at £3.3bn, boosted by a significant £900m new scheme win from a technology business.
These figures, published as part of Phoenix Group’s half year interim results, show that the Standard Life Master Trust passed the £10bn mark for the first time during this period, as a result of the company winning new schemes, retaining existing schemes and improved investment returns.
Standard Life said it hade made a number of enhancements to its customer proposition over this period, including the launch of the Standard Life Smooth Return Pension Fund and Standard Life Guaranteed Fixed Term Income products.
The company has also seen strong growth in the bulk purchase annuity market (BPA) — with £1.7bn of annuity premiums were written in H1 2024 with a strong pipeline of opportunities in place.
It said that since the end of June, the business wrote a further £400m in BPA and is working on additional transactions valued at £2.2bn, on an exclusive basis.
The company has continued to further develop its pension proposition, with Phoenix Group announcing in August this year an agreement with Schroders to launch Future Growth Capital (FGC), the first private market investment manager established to promote the objectives of the Mansion House Compact in the UK. Importantly, FGC will provide Standard Life policyholders with access to a broader range of assets.
Standard LIfe chief executive officer Andy Curran says: “Flows into our Workplace business are up 83% year-on-year as a result of the investments we’ve made in our proposition. Our Master Trust in particular is growing strongly and assets exceeded £10bn for the first time earlier this year.
“Sponsors and trustees of defined benefit schemes are looking to take advantage of their strong funding position and secure member benefits through bulk purchase annuities and we have a strong pipeline of deals ahead.
“Another major focus for us has been on broadening our retirement offer and in particular creating solutions that provide people with greater certainty of income in retirement.
“We were the first new provider to enter the annuity market since pension freedoms and have experienced strong demand from customers since doing so. We’ve added further choice since with the addition of a smoothed fund in partnership with Fidelity and just last week Standard Life launched a fixed term annuity for those looking for income certainty for a set period of time.”
