Standard Life decided to make an immediate cash injection to benefit its customers

UK-based Standard Life has announced that it will make immediate payments for the benefit of all customers who invested in the Pension Sterling Fund and have been affected by the 4.8% fall in unit price arising from the valuation adjustment communicated in January 2009.

At that time, and prior to the valuation adjustment being made, the fund had 97,000 customers and was valued at GBP2.1 billion, said Standard Life.

According to Standard Life, this decision reflects the importance that the company attached to the long-term relationships it has with its customers and business partners as well as the company’s view that some customers would not have expected the value of their units to fall by this extent in one day, based on the information the company provided on the nature of the fund.

Standard Life noted that it will make an immediate cash injection into the fund with payments provided to those customers who have left Standard Life in the period since the valuation adjustment was announced.

Going forward the Pension Sterling Fund will continue to operate as at present, investing in bank and building society deposits and floating rate notes, the majority of which are asset backed securities, with an aim of providing greater returns than a fund invested purely in bank and building society deposits, Standard Life added.