What's happening?
We’re transferring a small number of policies, which are provided by Phoenix Life Limited (Phoenix Life) and branded Standard Life, to a company in aberdeen Group called abrdn Life and Pensions Limited (abrdn Life). We wrote to anyone with an affected policy to explain our plans to do this. Following a High Court hearing on 12 March 2025, the Court approved the transfer which will take place on 28 March 2025.
Why are these policies being transferred?
The type of policies being transferred are usually held by pension scheme trustees as a way of investing in certain funds provided by Phoenix Life. Much of the day to day running and management of these policies is already with aberdeen Group companies. We want to simplify the way things work for holders of this type of policy as well as for their advisers, and the transfer will result in abrdn Life being responsible for all aspects of these policies.
Together with aberdeen, we’ve planned to carry out this transfer for some time. It is one of a number of changes agreed between Phoenix Group and aberdeen Group in 2021 to simplify their strategic partnership.
We have written to affected policyholders to explain the impact of the transfer on them. Most Standard Life pension schemes are unaffected by this transfer.
If your pension scheme trustee holds a policy that is impacted by our plans
Your pension arrangements and the way they are managed will stay the same. Your trustee and scheme administrator will not change. Any payments that you make into your pension will not be affected and the value of your pension scheme’s investments will not change as a result of the transfer.
We wrote to the small number of trustees impacted by our plans and if the transfer affects your pension scheme in some way, your scheme trustee may have directed you to this website.
We created a specific Transfer Guide for pension scheme members whose trustee holds a policy impacted by the transfer, which includes Q&As. You can find this in the table of important documents section below.
What will happen, when?
The High Court approved our transfer plans, following a High Court hearing held on 12 March 2025. The transfer will happen on 28 March 2025.
We followed a rigorous legal and regulatory process to make sure policyholders’ interests were protected. This involved:
- discussions with our regulators, the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority, about out plans,
- appointing an Independent Expert to carry out an independent review of our plans, and
- asking the High Court in London to approve our plans.
At the same time as the transfer, abrdn Life plan to make some other changes for policyholders with these types of policies. This is to align their management of the transferring policies with the policies that they already manage. We’ve explained what this means for policyholders in their letter and you can also read about this in the Transfer Guide. A sample of these documents can be found in the table of important documents section below.
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Important documents
Policies transferring
Example Letter
Example of letter sent to those customers with a policy to be transferred
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Policies not transferring
Most policies will not transfer and will not be affected by the transfer. We have written to a very small number of Trustee Investment Plan and Corporate Fund Investment Policy holders who are impacted by the proposal. These policies will not be transferred but will temporarily be affected by the transfer process.
Transfer guide
Guide for other Phoenix customers who don't have a Standard Life policy.
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Pension scheme information
The transferring policies are typically held by trustees of pension schemes. We have created a sample letter for pension scheme members. A tailored guide for members is also available.