Andy Briggs addressing clients in Edinburgh (pic: DB Media Services)
The pensions group speaks to TERRY MURDEN about acquiring Aegon UK and the need for changes to the retirement sector
Amid the relics and curiosities of the National Museum of Scotland, the chief executive of Standard Life was hosting a reception for clients, telling them that the company was not just a part of the country’s glorious past, but would become a rejuvenated player in an industry facing a “turning point”.
The business has been propelled back on to the FTSE 100 listing under the guidance of a group which is shedding its Phoenix brand in favour of one that it believes resonates more with the public.
“The response has been very positive,” he says, three months after the change became operative, though Standard Life has been part of the Phoenix family since 2021 when it acquired the brand and assets from Standard Life Aberdeen as it went through its own rebranding gymnastics.
Briggs says the Standard Life name “better describes” the group’s shift from an acquisition vehicle of zombie funds to a “purpose-led, consumer-orientated retirement savings business”. It’s part of a strategy to push the importance of pensions to both customers and law-makers.
It also underpins the company’s planned growth in Edinburgh as he brings Standard Life together with the Aegon UK business he is acquiring from its Dutch parent in a £2 billion deal announced in April. It will create the UK’s largest retirement savings and income business with £480bn in assets under administration and 16 million customers.
There are understandable concerns about what it will mean for the two businesses. Briggs says: “We have not made a decision on the Gyle [location of Aegon UK] and the Standard Life offices in Lothian Road. I imagine that will come within a year of completion of the deal, but I am not concerned about it.”
He states with some certainty: “Edinburgh will be, by far, our biggest centre,” and offers further reassurance to those concerned about jobs cut by saying that “if we lose people we could lose customers”.
He says this even as the threat of artificial intelligence taking out jobs hovers over every sector. Briggs insists that human contact will remain a central mission at the company.
“I was at a conference in the US last week and there was a speaker on AI who said it is more unpopular than President Trump and his ICE programme because people fear it will lead to massive job losses.
“Therefore I think it is important we think about how we embrace it, but I do not subscribe to the view that AI will lead to lots of lost jobs.”
He does concede, however, that AI may make customers feel less engaged with an industry that, to many people, remains remote and baffling. “There is a risk of that,” he admits. “Our focus is on improving customer engagement and we need to guide them, with personal contact.
“We aim to make sure people do not make a decision without talking to us. Ninety-five per cent want to talk to someone and are not satisfied with talking to an AI chatbot.”
At 6 feet 5 inches, Briggs is literally a giant of the sector and from a young age felt drawn to management and leadership functions. He joined the industry as an actuary at Prudential, staying at the company for 19 years and learning the full range of skills that set him up for senior positions at Scottish Widows and Friends Life where in 2011 he became chief executive for the first time at a listed company.
He arrived as CEO of Phoenix in 2020 from Aviva where he was CEO UK Insurance. He left Aviva after losing out on the top job to Maurice Tulloch.
At the newly-titled Standard Life he’s consumed with tackling the low level of savings in pensions and hopes that the final report from the Pensions Commission, due next year, will recommend measures to close the gap. “I was encouraged by the interim report that made it clear that people are not saving enough,” he says.
Only one in seven puts aside a decent amount for retirement income and just one in ten receives financial advice. Briggs says auto-enrolment, introduced in 2012, has helped and has been widely taken up, but he wants to see the 8% contribution raised to 12% over a period of years. He specifically wants to see the self-employed pay more.
He is also an advocate of keeping the 50+ age group in the workforce for longer. There is talk of a further increase to the minimum age at which private pensions can be accessed. It’s currently 55, but will be rising to 57 in 2028, when the state pension age will also increase to 67 from 66. Now 60, Briggs says he has no immediate plans of his own to retire, insisting “the job’s not done”.
While the Standard Life name is now emblazoned once again on the Lothian Road offices, there have been changes in the location of decision makers. Unlike the Standard Life of old, the top team is based in London where its board also meets more than it meets in Edinburgh. The Scottish capital is now part of his “tour” of its offices, including those in Birmingham, Bristol and Telford.
The drift of company leaders out of Scotland to London has become a widespread trend, with his peers such as Jason Windsor of Aberdeen Group and Paul Thwaite at NatWest/RBS among those also based in the south. Briggs, who lives in London’s swanky Holland Park district, says this is largely a result of consolidation in the industry which he expects to pick up.
“In terms of corporate offices there is a trend in that direction,” he admits.”But engagement with customers is firmly in Edinburgh.”
PERSONAL CHECKLIST
Early years: Raised in Chelmsford, Essex
Age: 60 (born March 1966)
Education: Southampton University (maths)
Career highlights: Trained as an acuary with Prudential, moved into senior positions at the company and at Scottish Widows, Friends Life and Aviva before moving to Phoenix. Became group CEO in March 2020.
Remuneration (2025): £3.45 million, including a base salary of £861,000.
Other interests
He has been chair of the board of the Association of British Insurers and Government Business Champion for Older Workers with Business in the Community.
He has also been a long-term supporter of the NSPCC, having joined the NSPCC Fundraising Committee in 2006 and is the current committee chair. In 2016 he became a trustee of the NSPCC.
Honours
Awarded an MBE in the 2021 New Year Honours
Leisure time
Golf. He plays off a handicap of four
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