Help Sitemap Home Skip Navigation Contact Us Disability Statement

Endinburgh Council
 
 
Monday, 2nd November 2009 Change Date Latest Issue

Fury at £5m for Standard Life bosses

Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image

Published Date: 21 April 2007
UNION anger was mounting today after it was revealed three of Standard Life's top executives were awarded more than £5 million in pay just a month after the company announced 1000 job cuts.
Sandy Crombie, the Edinburgh-based finance giant's chief executive, received £2.2m, a rise of £871,000 on 2005. Keith Skeoch, chief executive of Standard Life Investments received just under £2m, including bonuses of £1.5m, and Trevor Matthews, the Australian UK retail chief, received £1.3m in 2006.

The rises, highlighted in the company's annual report, were described as "scandalous" by unions today. They come as the company is in the midst of a £100m cost-cutting programme. Last month it was announced that there would be a further 1000 job losses, adding to the 4500 posts cut since 2004. Around 7500 of the firm's workforce is based in Edinburgh.

Willie Gibson, regional officer at financial workers' union Amicus said: "It is another reprehensible action from the senior people at Standard Life."

A Standard Life spokesman said: "These men have overseen a turnaround that is among the most dramatic in the history of the financial services industry."



Page 1 of 1

 
1

,

21/04/2007 11:18:00
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason: Scotsman Import, Original comment id: 548570, Article id was mapped to record!
2

Jim W,

21/04/2007 12:35:44

There are no morals about that company these days.

Let others line their pockets and then empty them as a thank you.

Sansy Crombie demonstrates that perfectly. One of the last remnants of the old school who has shown he can adapt very quickly when the pounds fill his own pockets.

3

paul the binman,

21/04/2007 13:00:43

Wonder where they found the money to pay him huh ?

4

Lord Lucan,

21/04/2007 13:21:28

I'd rather invest in a Nigerian scam email than with these sharks. At least you know the Nigerians are trying to rip you off.

5

alex paterson,

embra 21/04/2007 13:52:51

This has really bugged me,I have been with them since 1982 and getting a bit worried.

6

Allan Retentive,

21/04/2007 14:37:28

Here's the membership of Standard Life's remuneration committee.

http://ukgroup.standardlife.com/html/about/committees.html

Check out the fourth name on the list, Baroness McDonagh. That's Margaret McDonagh, general secretary of the Labour Party from 1998 to 2001.

Here's more info.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_McDonagh,_Baroness_...

You have to laugh, don't you?

7

Mystified,

East Lothian 21/04/2007 14:44:34

It's just the same crap at Scottish Widows. They are offshoring jobs to India which have no direct customer contact and trying to keep it hush hush. They are trying to tell staff that it's not a cost-cutting measure and that it's in their best interests - work that one out if you can!! It doesn't surprise me in the least about the bosses at Standard Life - I hope the staff make their voices heard and don't just suffer in silence.

8

Evan Owen,

Snowdonia 21/04/2007 15:57:01

Fury!

A bit of an undestatement....

These life offices are run by people who feather their rather lavish nests at the expense of the gullible policyholders and their advisers, when you picture an executive in one of these companies with piles of their 'customers' cash on their desks please cancel out any thoughts of him thinking 'where can I invest this money', he is actually thinking 'where can I spend it?', 'should I spend it in India or China?', 'How about some big fat bonuses?', 'or a combination of all three?'.

'how about giving it back to the policyholders?' NAH, can't do that even if it is their money after all is said and done.

Get out while you can folks, don't let them whittle your nest egg away until it is all gone, by then it will be too late, the executives will have retired on a £miion squid a year and you are left holding a piece of paper.

9

Evan Owen,

Snowdonia 21/04/2007 15:59:40

Oh, I forgot to mention Equitable Life, and all those little companies that were 'rescued' by the bigger boys.

Read ex-FSA head honcho Howard Davies' speech in Washington, he said the nearest the UK has come to a financial crisis was with the life offices, well it ain't over yet!

10

matthew in davao,

philippines 21/04/2007 16:12:15

not even worth commenting on. its the same the world over. you can bitch and moan all you want. these peo[ple dont care. workers and stockholders are just suckers who supply labour and money. so these people can skim it into their pockets. then its adios m.f.

11

ColinD66,

York 21/04/2007 16:40:20

Time for some balance. Now that SLAC is a plc they have to pay the going rate for chief execs etc. I'd rather they pay Sandy Crombie that money than some fly by night type. Having worked there, I think they are a good company and i intend to hold on to my shares for a long time.

12

Toast,

21/04/2007 17:16:26

#10 obviously you aren't policyholder,probably one of the employees who demonstrated against demutualisation initially costing policyholders a fortune.All these executives are the same,huge bonuses for a job any moderately intelligent person could do,but when things go wrong they have no accountability at all.

13

Bien E. Bien,

21/04/2007 17:22:34

I understand that many of the SLIM products are somewhat second rate. Perhaps better to invest elsewhere if you are seeking capital preservation, income, growth, or at least 2nd quartile RAROC (risk adjusted return on capital). :~)

14

Finbarr Saunders,

21/04/2007 19:31:36

#12 - Bien E. Bien - I bet a big space forms around you whenever you enter a room!

15

Bien E. Bien,

21/04/2007 22:07:12

#12 - it does! But that is just because I am overweight and impotent.

16

ColinD66,

York 21/04/2007 22:46:31

Toast, fyi I am also a policyholder and left SLAC in 2000, before the demutualisation campaign.

17

Voldemort,

Edinburgh 21/04/2007 22:48:31

Football players get twice this money and nobody moans about that ...

These SL guys are contributing vast sums of Tax towards the lavish Labour lifestyles of the ruling political classes .. thats what you should be annoyed about folks - not sniping at businessmen who have done well for themselves.

18

Scotty dog,

21/04/2007 23:40:38

Based on performance in 2006 I think they deserve it.

19

Groucho,

22/04/2007 00:32:58

That's good news!!!!! I expect that Mr. Crombie will pay the shortfall on my endowment policy. No descent chap could do less.

20

Faye,

Scotland 22/04/2007 19:04:05

#17. Indeed.

SL performance has been excellent. It is with profit holders who are concerned and that isn't a bad thing.

My SL non with profit funds have all done very well but the with profits will always be a concern when one hears such news.

21

Mario Antoinette aka lots of things,

22/04/2007 19:06:16

Interesting that I got my comment removed about Trevor Matthews and HIS "Nigger in the woodpile" quote (not mine).

It is a bad state of affairs when you keep getting told that your endowment wil never meet the levels it was intended to , no new staff are to be hired apart from Jokers on the phones and millions are being paid to these other jokers.

INvest your money well away from these clowns at SL and Scottish widows who basically lie to their own staff.

22

Evan Owen,

Snowdonia 22/04/2007 20:28:35

Faye

Are you on the same planet as the rest of us?

Or are you an actuarial queen in drag?

23

Gibson G,

Edinburgh 22/04/2007 21:02:09

It is always painful when an investment you make it good faith doesn't work out as planned. The industry as a whole (not just SL) has had to take a long hard look at itself in recent years as many factors around it have changed that question the viability of WP policies. However, the fact is SL remains a very good company. Their performance in many funds (especially UK funds) has been quite amazing in the last 12 months, beating many of the best old names. That is a fact that can't be questioned. Execs will always be paid highly - they run billion £ companies and get paid accordingly. I for one, wouldn't want their stress in return for similar money. Whatever you think, these execs really do try to do the right thing for SL customers and other stakeholders.

24

pop,

22/04/2007 22:36:51

I got rid of my endowments just after they demutilised and it was the best thing i could have done .I was left with a shortfall of several thousand pounds and have nearly paid it off no thanks to this crowd.When i complained about miselling they will try and fob you off.One of my policies was before 1983 and i was told it was before the cut off date so tough.........it seems as if the fat cats are lining their pockets at the policy holders expense.....they wont be getting a penny of my hard earnt cash again....i noticed they are even runnin a private bus for their workers as well ..........they all look po faced !

25

Jayess,

Holyrood 22/04/2007 22:54:39

Our Pretendy Parliament ought to be doing something about this, as it is a threat to our economy. This sort of behaviour and publicity is a threat to Scotland's reputation in the Finance field.

26

watsisname,

OZ 23/04/2007 10:07:56

are they really worth that amount of money !!!!

27

H,

emburry 23/04/2007 10:51:12

Effluent in the Forth, effluent in the boardroom.

Messrs Crombie et al should remember the happenings of 1789 . . . .

The link with footballers hwoever just doesn't work. There are not another 100 000 people who are as good as Cristiano Ronaldo or Steven Gerrard deespite their lack of brain cells. The same is not true of these parasites. Good businessmen they may be but that's all. They will not suffer if the performance of SL goes down.


 

Comment on this Story

 

In order to post comments you must Register or Sign In

 
 
RSS Feed of this article's comments
Delivery formats: RSS, Atom, Javascript & Email
 
  

 
 

More Executive fat cats

More Executive fat cats >>

More Standard Life

More Standard Life >>

Today's Vote

Should there be a cap on City bonuses?
Yes
No

Featured Advertising



Sister Newspapers:
Press Complaints Commission

This website and its associated newspaper adheres to the Press Complaints Commission’s Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then contact the Editor by clicking here.

If you remain dissatisfied with the response provided then you can contact the PCC by clicking here.