STANDARD Life chairman Sir Gerry Grimstone has said the £11bn merger with Aberdeen Asset Management will create a global funds powerhouse run from Scotland but underlined the enlarged group’s expected commitment to the pensions and savings market.
Speaking after shareholders in both firms gave strong backing to the proposal to combine the firms, Sir Gerry said the pension arm will play a key role in bringing in funds for the asset management business to invest.
“The pensions and savings business in the UK is very important to us, both in its own right and as a distribution outlet for our asset management business,” Sir Gerry told reporters.
The comments are likely to dampen speculation the enlarged Standard Life Aberdeen group could sell the pensions business to focus on the fast growing global fund management market.
Sir Gerry said the division will be little affected by plans to cut 800 jobs from the enlarged group. There is no overlap between Edinburgh-based Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management in pensions.
Job losses are likely to be concentrated in the firms’ asset management arms and in central functions.
The group hopes to minimise redundancies by relying on staff turnover to achieve as big a share as possible of the payroll savings targeted. It will deal in a fair and appropriate way when deciding on redundancies.
Directors can’t make detailed plans until the merger completes. They expect this to be in mid August.
Standard Life Aberdeen would aim to cut costs by £200m annually within three years.
Sir Gerry said completion of the deal may pave the way for Standard Life Aberdeen to have talks with the Edinburgh-based Scottish Widows pensions business about ways they might work together.
He dismissed a report Standard Life is lining up a bid to buy Widows from Lloyds Banking Group.
Lloyds has a 9.8 per cent stake in Scottish Widows. Takeover rules mean Standard Life may not hold talks with Lloyds until the merger with Aberdeen is completed.
Sir Gerry added: “We see the possibility of strengthening the pensions and savings business by doing things in collaboration with Lloyds and Scottish Widows. We don’t yet know, because we haven’t been allowed to have any detailed discussions with them as to what that means.”
He said the decision to have the headquarters of the enlarged business in Edinburgh represented a huge vote of confidence in Scotland’s financial services sector, which may result in jobs being created ultimately.
“I expect the company will become a major force in the world’s financial markets and grow significantly over time,” Sir Gerry told a meeting of Standard Life shareholders to consider the deal.
Standard Life may base its European pensions and asset management businesses in Dublin and Luxembourg respectively following Brexit. Only a small number of jobs would be moved.
Sir Gerry defended the decision to appoint Standard Life’s Keith Skeoch and Aberdeen Asset Management’s Martin Gilbert as joint chief executives. They have complementary skills. It will be clear who does what.
The merger was supported by 98.6 and 95.8 per cent of votes cast at general meetings of Standard life and Aberdeen Asset Management respectively. Standard Life shareholders will own 66.7 per cent of the enlarged group while Aberdeen shareholders will own 33.3 per cent.
Standard Life employs about 5,000 of its global workforce of about 6,500 in Scotland.
Aberdeen Asset has 2,700 people around the world, about 700 of them in Scotland.
The Competiton and Markets Authority will decide by July 18 if it will launch an in-depth investigation into the proposed deal.
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