Standard Life  currently has over 5 million customers world wide and its assets worldwide exceed £75 billion. They are the largest MUTUAL insurance company in Europe which means they have no shareholders to pay.  Having been providing financial services since 1825 they have a good deal of experience to work from. [ Source Standard Life April 2003]

Standard Life has said it will have a with profits contract which will entitle scheme members who choose to invest in it to become with profits members of the company. Those who have been members for at least three years will have the prospect of any de-mutualisation bonus of the company de-mutualises in the future. Standard Life members voted in the summer of 2000 not to de-mutualise so it is considered unlikely that this strategy will be pursued for some time.

The with profit fund is Standard Life’s default option under their Stakeholder Scheme and our research shows that very few providers offer this option. The assets backing the Stakeholder With Profits fund (held separately within the main with profit fund) include a wide range of UK and overseas shares, property holdings and fixed interest stocks. Standard Life aims to maintain a high proportion of equities in the Stakeholder With Profit fund in order to maximise the potential investment return. (Source: Standard Life bulletin about the range of pension funds ref: GSPP5, April 2001).

In contrast to an investment-linked fund, where the fund will be directly affected by fluctuations in the stock market, the with profit fund aims to produce smooth investment returns. (Standard Life reserves the right to impose a Market Value reduction in adverse market conditions to protect the interests of the remaining policyholders).

There is a choice of 14 pension investment-linked funds available, which have been categorised as Secure, Stable, Balanced and Opportunity. Pensionadvice’s criteria for a range of funds is met by Standard Life and they offer two managed funds, UK Equity and an Ethical fund for clients who are interested in socially responsible companies for example not detrimental to humans, animals or the environment. External fund links will be available later in the year.

The return on the investment-linked funds is directly related to the performance of the assets in which they invest and the price of units may go down as well as up. The fund prices are published daily and can be viewed on www.standlardlife.co.uk.

Standard Life will issue an annual benefit statement to stakeholder investors showing the value of their fund. In addition individuals making contributions by Direct Debit will receive an additional statement detailing the payments received.

Administration and systems capability are essential for companies such as Standard Life and millions of pounds of money have been spent in developing technology to cater for stakeholder.

E-Commerce capability is fundamentally important and a large proportion of the administration and communication connected with stakeholder will be Internet enabled. Stakeholder clients will be able to access details about their funds over the Internet and indeed make any changes. For example this could be informing Standard Life of a change of address or marital status.