Andy Briggs: We have continued to invest in our market-leading pensions and savings and retirement solutions businesses.
Phoenix Group has reported strong workplace pensions and bulk-purchase annuity (BPA) inflows during the first six months of the year.
In its interim results released today (8 September), the insurer – which is changing its name to Standard Life in March next year – said it had seen net workplace inflows of £2.8bn in the six months to 30 June, down from £3.3bn in the first half of last year, but a period it said which had included a one-off bulk win of £900m. It said it had a "solid pipeline" of business for the second half of the year.
The firm said it had written £300m of BPA business in the first half of 2025 – volumes which it said reflected "selective pricing in a competitive market".
But it added that, since the end of June, it had secured a further £2.9bn of BPA premiums, either completed or in exclusive negotiations – including its largest ever deal of £1.9bn completed with the Sedgwick Section of the MMC UK Pension Fund in July – taking its year-to-date BPA business to £3.2bn.
The firm said it had continued to evolve its BPA offering – including through longevity insurance novations, which it says have made its proposition more attractive to customers.
Phoenix said it had also been evolving its approach to asset management.
It said it had historically operated an out-sourced operating model for all assets, partnering with the best asset manager in each asset class it operates across.
It said that, while this strategy will remain unchanged for its pensions and savings business, moving forward it expected to consolidate the number of asset managers it partners with – adding that Aberdeen would continue to be its key asset management strategic partner into the future, and potentially attracting a greater share of these assets.
Phoenix said its strategy for the management of its annuity-backing assets is evolving to one which is predominantly in-house, leveraging the internal capabilities it has built to manage derivatives, public credit and private assets alongside partnerships to source differentiated and unique private assets. It said it was now managing £5bn of its £39bn portfolio in-house, and was currently preparing to in-house around a further £20bn.
It said the shift to this in-housing model covered its annuity-backing assets – adding it has "no intention" of becoming a fully-fledged asset manager nor was it looking to manage third party assets.
Phoenix Group chief executive Andy Briggs commented on the firm's first half performance. He said: : "This is a strong first half performance with progress against all key financial metrics we use to drive the business, demonstrating continued momentum towards our 2026 targets. We are increasingly well placed to serve our customers' retirement needs and create further customer and shareholder value as we fulfil our vision to become the UK's leading retirement savings and income business. We've strengthened our balance sheet and continued to invest in our market-leading pensions and savings and retirement solutions businesses. Our strategic delivery includes moving ahead with our advice proposition and in-housing the management of annuity-backing assets to benefit from our scaled asset management capabilities. We support c.12 million customers in managing over £295bn in assets under administration. Changing our name from Phoenix Group Holdings plc to Standard Life plc in March 2026 brings our most trusted brand to the forefront and demonstrates our commitment to helping customers secure a better retirement."
