Standard Life Aberdeen set for name change after deal with Phoenix Group
Standard Life Aberdeen is set to sell its flagship brand to Phoenix Group, a significant revamp of one of the City’s biggest asset managers.
The fund manager’s new chief executive Stephen Bird, who joined last year, is on the brink of agreeing a deal to sell the Standard Life name, according to Sky News.
The deal, which will reportedly be announced in the next few days, would represent a restructuring of the group’s existing relationship.
It is reported the deal will set to extend the terms of a partnership reached in 2018 and the name change is not set to take place immediately.
It comes just four years after the merger of Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management overseen by former chief executives Keith Skeoch and Martin Gilbert.
It could see a move to abandon the Aberdeen Standard Investments established by the merger and may prompt a renaming of the SLA parent company.
Sky News reported senior figures have mulled keeping the Aberdeen name in large part because of its notoriety particularly in Asian markets.
SLA declined to comment. Phoenix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.