Fact CheckedThis short, fact-filled post is intended to provide information to existing Standard Life Canada policyholders and consumers. Do you have a Standard Life Insurance Policy in force? If so, and if you want to review the details or make some administrative changes, Standard Life VIP has been transferred to the Manulife VIP Room. Click here for more info. You can also contact Manulife Customer Service here:
- Manulife Individual Insurance and Investments 1-888-841-6633
- Manulife Group Savings and Retirement 1-800-242-1704
The Manulife VIP Room Provides Former Standard Life Canada Policyholders/Group Plan Members with the Following:
- Review your Standard Life insurance policy and features
- Update your address, banking, and personal information
- Make a change of beneficiary request
- Request an insurance certificate replacement
- View or request a copy of your statement
- Administer any changes to your group savings and retirement plan
- Convert Standard Life Term Insurance to a Manulife permanent plan
The History Of Standard Life Canada
Standard Life was founded in Edinburgh in 1825 as the Life Insurance Company of Scotland. In 1832, it changed its name to The Standard Life Assurance Company.
Just under a century later, in 1925, Standard Life was reorganized as a mutual assurance company.
Operating globally since its inception, the Canadian branch of Standard Life Assurance was founded in 1833 in Montreal, Quebec. By the late 1800s, Standard Life Insurance had sold policies in Canada, Egypt, Germany, India, Ireland, Shanghai, and the West Indies.
I find it interesting how many Canadian life insurance companies started in Quebec. These giants include Desjardins, BMO, Humania, Industrial Alliance, RBC, and SSQ.
Modern Days
In the 20th century, Standard Life expanded from selling annuities and basic insurance to selling group benefits, savings, and investments.
By 1960, they had become the biggest life assurance company in Scotland and, by the late 1990s, Europe’s largest mutual insurance company. 1998, Standard Life Investments was launched as a dedicated asset management business.
The Standard Life Assurance Company was demutualized in 2006 and transformed into a public company, Standard Life plc.
Just under a decade later, in January 2015, Standard Life’s Canadian operations were purchased by Manulife Financial Corp. for approximately $4 billion in cash.
The Standard Life Manulife Deal
This 2015 deal combined Standard Life Canada, the fifth-largest Canadian insurer, with Manulife, one of the largest insurance companies globally, with over 80,000 employees.
Standard Life provided long-term savings, investments, and insurance products to approximately 1.4 million Canadians at the time of the acquisition. It also had $52 billion of assets under administration.
The transaction doubled Manulife’s assets under management in Canada, making it the second-largest company in the Canadian group retirement business. In addition, Manulife acquired 2,000 new Standard Life employees and credited more than $6 billion in assets to its mutual fund business in Canada.
At the time, Manulife had been particularly keen to acquire Standard Life’s Quebec assets to boost its core businesses:
“One of the key reasons we were interested in this company is its people in Quebec. We want to increase our presence in the province and use the very talented employee base to grow and expand our business in Quebec, throughout Canada and indeed the world,” Donald A. Guloien, Former Manulife president and CEO
Manulife’s New Digs: Maison Manuvie
Putting its money where its mouth is, Manulife built a new home for its Standard Life employees in Montreal. Completed in 2017, Maison Manuvie is a $220 million state-of-the-art office building in downtown Montreal’s heart.
It houses all former Standard Life employees and Manulife personnel on 11 floors.
Part of the Standard Life Manulife Deal also included a global collaboration agreement, under which Manulife would deepen Standard Life Investments’ distribution reach by selling Its funds in Canada, the United States, and Asia.
“One in three Canadians do business with Manulife, but 90% only have one Manulife product. The Standard Life acquisition has enabled us to improve the offering.” Charles Guay, Former president and CEO of Manulife Quebec
Today, as you may be aware, Manulife is the largest insurance company in Canada and one of the top 30 fund managers in the world.
Did you know that one of the larger insurance companies in the U.S., John Hancock Financial, is owned by Manulife Canada?
“The promises and commitments made to you by The Standard Life Insurance Company have continued as promises and commitments of Manulife Insurance.”
Standard Life Insurance Products
Standard Life Canada was always known more for its group, investment, and retirement products. Nonetheless, it also had a substantial life insurance offering, including critical illness, term, universal, and whole life.
Sales of Individual life and critical illness policies stopped when the Standard Life – Manulife deal was completed.
However, existing policyholders still have the option to make changes. I’ve created a shortlist below to give you an idea of the insurance products Standard Life of Canada offers.
Standard Life Term Insurance
Standard Life Assurance of Canada offered both 10 and 20-year term products. They have the following features and options:
- Renewable to age 85
- Convertible to Standard life Whole or Universal Life insurance to age 65
- Issue ages 18-70, depending on the term length
- Term rider
- Protecta Critical Illness rider
- Joint first-to-die option
- Minimum coverage $100,000
“Note*: If you have a Standard Life Term policy in force, you may have the option to convert it to permanent coverage, within prescribed limits. It’s always a good idea to review your policy so you know what your options are. With Manulife, your permanent conversion options are limited to Performax Gold Whole Life or Innovision Universal Life.”
Standard Life Whole Life Insurance
Whole life is a form of permanent insurance with a cash value feature. How does it work?
Every month, a small portion of your insurance premium is put aside into an investment account inside your insurance policy. The cash in this account grows over time and may compound into a nice little nest egg.
As a policyholder, you can access this cash value in different ways. For example, you can borrow against the policy when you’re older to provide extra retirement income without triggering income tax.
You can also leave the cash value alone, knowing it will be added to the death benefit, and your beneficiaries can use it to pay estate taxes or capital gains tax. This could come in handy if you are passing down a cottage.
Standard Life Canada’s whole life was non-participating and had life pay and limited pay options with the following features:
- Available as a whole life 100 or limited pay options –
- Pay to age 65, pay to age 75, pay 20, 25, or 30 years
- Single, joint first or last-to-die
- Issue ages 18-80 years old
- Cash values available on the 10th policy anniversary
- Reduced paid-up values
Standard Life Universal Life Insurance
Universal Life insurance is permanent coverage with a cash value feature. It’s very flexible and, as such, can be a complicated product to manage.
I wrote an in-depth post about UL, which you can check out here.
Standard Life Canada’s Universal Life insurance is Protecta. It has all the features and options common to Universal Life policies sold by other life insurance companies in Canada.
If you purchased a Protecta Universal Life insurance policy before 2015 and haven’t reviewed it, now would be a good time. The Standard Life VIP room has been transferred to Manulife. Details, phone numbers, and a link are at the top of this post.
Standard Life Critical Illness Coverage
Critical illness is a hot topic with life insurance consumers today, but buyer beware.
To make a claim, your illness must meet the criteria of specific definitions in your policy. If it doesn’t, you won’t receive a payout. Please read my post about the pitfalls of critical illness insurance here before you sign on the dotted line.
Standard Life Canada’s offering was called Protecta Critical Illness Insurance. It had similar features to other critical illness products on the market:
- Available in 10-year term (Protecta 10), to age 65 (Protecta 65), Term to age 75 (Protecta 75), and Term to age 100 (Protecta 100)
- Looking to cover your kids? Protecta Child – covers 13 childhood illnesses
- Protecta 65 joint protection – covers two lives until age 65
- Return of Premium on Death and/or Surrender
- Waiver of premium on death or disability
- A Protecta 10 is convertible to Protecta 75 or Protecta 100 within limits
Standard Life Canada – Final Word
As you can see, Standard Life Canada has deep roots that go back to Scotland. Its acquisition in 2015 made Manulife the largest insurance company in Canada.
In a nutshell, Standard Life policyholders can rest easy knowing their investment is safe.
If you or a family member has a life insurance policy with Standard Life, it’s a good idea to review your coverage and understand what options you may have moving forward.
To reach out to Standard Life (Manulife), contact 1-888-841-6633.
