Standard Life takes £473m hit after stock market rally dents hedges Investing Standard Life swung to a loss in the first half of the year after the market moved against positions the firm had taken to shield itself against volatility. The FTSE 100 pensions giant posted an overall loss of £179m for the first six months of the year, driven by £473m in paper losses on financial [...]
Pension fund snaps up cut-price government bonds amid Starmer sell-off Markets One of the UK’s largest pension funds has jumped on the turmoil that speculation over Keir Starmer’s future has unleashed on the gilt market, scooping up government bonds at multi-decade low valuations. Standard Life has added to its holding of UK government debt, City AM understands, seizing on a sharp dip in the of the [...]
City AM Awards 2026: Meet the Finalists Business And the nominees are…. Personality of the Year Greg Jackson CBE The entrepreneur and CEO of Octopus Energy has become one of the UK’s most prominent business leaders, known for his straight talking and punchy views across a range of topics including UK entrepreneurship, the business environment, capital markets and, of course, energy. In August [...]
‘More needs to be done’ to help pension savers after salary sacrifice, says Standard life boss March 16, 2026 The boss of one of the UK’s largest pension providers has warned “more needs to be done” to help those saving for retirement after the government introduced a cap on salary sacrifice in the latest Budget. Andy Briggs, the chief executive of Standard Life, told City AM: “Obviously, we weren’t supportive of [salary sacrifice changes] [...]
‘It’s a feeding frenzy’: US consultancy scoops up dozens of senior Global Counsel staff March 10, 2026 A little-known American advisory firm is poised to hire up to a quarter of Global Counsel’s senior leadership team, amid a “feeding frenzy” that has broken out for top staff left jobless by the ignominious collapse of the Peter Mandelson-founded lobbying group. Washington-headquartered Capstone expects to confirm as many as 20 senior hires in the [...]
Global Counsel to be placed into administration February 19, 2026 Global Counsel’s 130 staff have been informed that the lobbying company founded by Peter Mandelson will be placed into administration as soon as tomorrow. City AM understands that despite a number of clients deciding to stay with the firm, the loss of business following the former US ambassador’s fall from grace has been substantial. A [...]
The Capitalist: Standard Life scrambles to avoid ‘STD’ ticker February 19, 2026 What's in a name? A whole lot of issues for Standard Life's new Stock Exchange ticker; delve into that and more in The Capitalist.
OBR accidentally publishes full Budget before Reeves speech November 26, 2025 The government will freeze income tax thresholds, implement a mansion tax and freeze fuel duty according to an unprecedented leak from the government’s fiscal watchdog that revealed its full scorecard for the Budget update before the Chancellor delivered her speech. The Office for Budget Responsibility released its full report on the government’s fiscal plans for [...]