At least 32,000 of Standard Life’s 2.4 million voting members do not like Sandy Crombie’s decision to lead Europe’s largest mutual insurer to a stock market flotation.
But no one could accuse Standard Life’s chief executive of lacking emotional and financial attachment to the mutual — this month he will mark his 40th year as a Standard Life employee. The 55-year-old joined the company in 1966, was chief executive of Standard Life Investments from its launch in 1998 and, in January 2000, became a board director. Mr Crombie has been chief executive since January 2004.
It was his decision early in his new position to institute a broad review of the insurer’s business. So he had a particular interest in the special general meeting poll last month, in which more than 1.5 million policyholders voted to demutualise Standard Life and float it on the London Stock Exchange, probably in July. Today the insurer will release its prospectus, which seems likely to lower expectations of the windfall awaiting members following the past month’s plunging stock markets. Standard Life’s stock is now expected to debut at the lower end of the 240p to 290p range set out before the vote, and perhaps go even lower, reducing windfalls by as much as 10 per cent.
But Mr Crombie’s supporters would say that he is no stranger to financial pain himself. In January 2005 the chief executive turned down bonuses worth more than £500,000, in recognition of the tough year suffered by the insurer, which included some 2,000 job cuts.