Standard Life has appointed Equiniti to carry out administration of both buy-in and buyout bulk purchase annuity (BPA) policies.

Equiniti will provide a full administration offer designed to meet the needs of both customers and trustees in this specialist area, Standard Life has detailed.

Through this partnership, Equiniti will deliver a self-service portal that aims to place customer experience at the heart of the proposition.

The portal, which will use Standard Life branding, aims to ensure customers benefit from greater flexibility in how they engage with their pension, the announcement explained.

Customers will be able to digitally access features such as a retirement modeller allowing real-time modelling of retirement options (including retirement dates and tax-free cash options), instant indicative transfer value and access to a wide range of information to help understand their policy and make important decisions on their retirement journey.

To promote sustainability, customers will have the option to go paperless and view all documents within the portal, but a fully staffed telephone option will also be available.

The complete service provided by Equiniti will focus on ensuring quick turnaround times to provide customers and trustees with information relating to their policy when they need it.

The service is in the process of being implemented and will be incrementally rolled out for use across 2023.

This partnership reflects the continued growth of Standard Life’s BPA business and anticipated demand in the coming years as trustees increasingly look to de-risk their schemes.

Standard Life head of client services, Mark Fenlon, commented: “The Standard Life BPA business has grown significantly over the last year. This partnership will support our growth plans and reflects the potential in this expanding market – with another strong year of volumes expected in 2022.

“With Equiniti’s market leading technology and substantial experience in the defined benefit administration market, we are confident that our partnership will help us provide a customer-centric proposition that meets the needs of trustees, as well as ensuring good outcomes for customers who are at the heart of the service.

“We are delighted to have Equiniti on board as an administration partner to provide support in this specialist area, and we look forward to working in partnership with them to continue developing the proposition in the future.”

Share Story: