In 2015, Standard Life founded an Independent Governance Committee (IGC) to work in the interests of its workplace personal pension scheme members. The main role of this committee is to assess the value for money provided by Standard Life Assurance Limited (SLAL) schemes.
On this page you'll be able to read the annual reports from the IGC, give your feedback and learn about committee members
The IGC is committed to the development of stronger, higher-value pension products for anyone saving for retirement. They’re also here to:
If you wish to read the summary of our previous four reports they are available below:
Normally at the beginning of each year, the IGC is busy drafting the annual report. Due to a change in the IGC reporting timetable, our next full annual report will be available in the summer. However, there are some things we’d like to tell you about now. Please read our 2021 Interim Report for more information.
The Interim Report above refers to the work that the IGC has done on a pre-launch review of Standard Life's Investment Pathways proposition. A longer description of what the IGC looked at and what they concluded is set out in the following report.
Transaction costs for Standard Life Assurance Limited funds within scope of the Independent Governance Committee (IGC).
Explanatory notes:
You can download the Transaction costs spreadsheet here (650KB).
As of 1 February 2021, customers with a Standard Life workplace pension are represented by a new Independent Governance Committee (IGC). This IGC represents workplace pension customers within Standard Life, Phoenix Life and ReAssure, to provide a consistent governance approach across the Phoenix Group.
The members of the IGCs have been selected in order to include:
2015/2016
2016/2017
2017/2018
2018/2019
Dr David HareIndependent ChairDavid joined the Standard Life IGC as Independent Chair in April 2019, and has been the Independent Chair of the Phoenix IGC since 2015. He has over 30 years of experience in the UK insurance industry. He qualified as an actuary in 1988 and has held various actuarial, marketing and financial risk management roles in a number of life insurers, including 5 years as Chief Actuary, UK & Europe at Standard Life. |
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Ingrid KirbyIndependent MemberIngrid has been an Independent Member of the Standard Life IGC since 2015, and joined the Phoenix IGC as Independent Member in April 2019. She is an independent professional trustee and investment specialist with Capital Cranfield Pension Trustees Ltd, after 30 years' experience of pension fund investment, including 25 years working at Hermes Investment Management for the BT Pension Scheme and other third party clients. |
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Sheila GunnIndependent MemberSheila joined the Standard Life IGC as an Independent Member in April 2019, and has been an Independent Member of the Phoenix IGC since 2015. She is an experienced independent non-executive director. Sheila left legal private practice in 2009 to pursue a management career in industry and undertake non-executive appointments. Her first assignment was with Ignis Asset Management, to work on the merger of two asset management businesses within the Phoenix Group. |
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Venetia TrayburnIndependent MemberVenetia is a professional independent trustee and a Director of The Law Debenture Pension Trust Corporation plc. She sits on a variety of pension boards. Before becoming an independent trustee, she worked as an ombudsman at the Financial Ombudsman Service, specialising in resolving members' complaints about problems they had experienced with pension products or about financial advice they had received. Before that, she spent 10 years as a lawyer working with pension scheme boards, employers and pension providers. She is passionate about helping members and employers understand the value of pension savings, and make good decisions about contributions, investments and accessing money from pension savings in retirement. |
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Rona CameronEmployee MemberRona joined the IGC as a Company Representative in June 2020. Rona is a lawyer and joined Standard Life in 2009 after a period in private practice and in-house roles. Rona spent nine years working in Standard Life's Risk and Compliance function, leading an advisory team which supported business decisions, particularly in relation to regulatory change. Rona currently has responsibility for governance frameworks that promote good customer outcomes and support the management of conduct risk across open and heritage businesses. Rona also has oversight of the proposition and development and management processes, as well as elements of our relationship with Standard Life Aberdeen. |
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Mike PennellEmployee MemberMike joined the Standard Life IGC as an Employee Member in April 2019, and has been an Employee Member of the Phoenix IGC since 2015. He is a qualified actuary who has been with the Phoenix Group for almost 30 years having originally joined Britannic Assurance. His current role is focused on strategy and planning within the life companies of the Group and supporting various projects including those related to integrating businesses acquired by the Group. |
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