Standard Life launches pounds 60bn investment house
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.STANDARD LIFE, the UK's second-biggest life insurer, mounted a challenge to the City's big independent fund managers yesterday when it launched a new investment house to manage pounds 60bn, writes Andrew Verity.
The new subsidiary, Standard Life Investments, will compete with managers such as Mercury Asset Management and Morgan Grenfell, and is aiming to manage pounds 100bn within five years.
The group will begin by managing Standard Life's existing funds, which hold shares amounting to 2 per cent of the UK equity market. It will also aim at a 5 per cent share of the retail investment market, managing money for private investors.
Standard Life said it had "aggressive plans" to challenge established fund managers, such as bidding for contracts to run hundreds of millions of pounds at a time for big pension funds.
Sandy Crombie, the chief executive of the new company, claimed the insurer had already outperformed established fund managers in the market to run pooled pension funds on behalf of small and medium-sized companies.
The company, which has taken four years to organise,will have a staff of 500, most based in Edinburgh with 30 in Montreal, Canada.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments