Standard Life and Fidelity International build on strategic partnership with launch of Guaranteed Lifetime Income plan

• The Standard Life Guaranteed Lifetime Income plan provides a simple and efficient way of securing guaranteed income in retirement
• Held on the Fidelity Adviser Solutions platform within a flexi-access drawdown account, it addresses retiree concerns about running out of money in retirement
• Allows advisers to deliver and manage a guaranteed income for life within existing advice processes, as part of withdrawal strategy
• Follows the launch of the Standard Life Smoothed Return Pension Fund in partnership with Fidelity International, designed to smooth the investment journey 

Standard Life and Fidelity International (“Fidelity”) today announce the launch of the Standard Life Guaranteed Lifetime Income plan, a new guaranteed income option providing an easy and flexible way for advisers to help their clients meet essential living costs in retirement. This marks the second development to be launched as part of the strategic partnership between the companies.

The Standard Life Guaranteed Lifetime Income plan (the “plan”) pays an individually underwritten guaranteed income for life, with the added benefit of being held within an individual’s drawdown account alongside other drawdown investment solutions. This means advisers can offer a guaranteed income for their clients on platform, in a way that aligns with their existing advice processes as part of their wider withdrawal strategy. This also makes it straightforward to acquire “tranches” of guaranteed income throughout the client review process which enables clients to take advantage of higher rates as they age and journey through retirement.

Flexibility over when income is taken or re-invested

A key feature of the Standard Life Guaranteed Lifetime Income plan is that the income from the plan is paid into an individual’s drawdown cash account, supporting the preferred way that advised clients want to access their pension savings¹. This flexibility means clients can decide the income they receive and when, while allowing advisers to maintain control and manage guaranteed income for their clients alongside drawdown investment solutions.

The plan is also designed to help support a tax efficient withdrawal strategy and any income from the plan that isn’t required for withdrawal can be held within the drawdown cash account or be re-invested into the investment options available on the platform. Under drawdown rules, an individual won’t be liable to pay any income tax until they actually withdraw money from their pension into their chosen bank account.

The Guaranteed Lifetime Income plan has been launched as part of the strategic partnership between Standard Life*, part of Phoenix Group, one of the UK’s largest long-term savings and retirement business, and Fidelity International. Standard Life is responsible for the creation, administration and performance of the plan, while the plan is available through Fidelity Adviser Solutions, a leading investment and retirement services platform for financial advisers, via its Adviser Solutions Pension Account.

Claire Altman, Managing Director of Individual Retirement at Standard Life, commented: “The nature of retirement is evolving. People have more nuanced retirement journeys, with different needs at different life stages, which necessitates a range of different income solutions. Having certainty of income can be a valuable part of this mix, providing a guaranteed income for life, however people also want to maintain a degree of flexibility. The launch of the Standard Life Guaranteed Lifetime Income plan addresses this need. Clients are able to decide the amount of income they want to receive and when so they don’t have to sacrifice flexibility, while giving advisers the ability to simply and efficiently manage a guaranteed income for their clients on platform with drawdown funds.”

It has been brought to market following the launch of the Standard Life Smoothed Return Pension Fund in 2024 – a smoothed managed pension fund designed to help grow pension investments while providing some protection from the daily uncertainty of investing by smoothing out the investment journey. The Standard Life Guaranteed Lifetime Income plan now sits alongside the Standard Life Smoothed Return Pension Fund on the Fidelity Adviser Solutions platform, offering additional retirement income options for advisers and their clients, using one of the UKs leading platforms. 

Jeff Harris, Head of Distribution, Global Platform Solutions at Fidelity International, commented: “The strategic partnership between Fidelity and Standard Life has allowed us to combine our collective experience to enable the development of innovative solutions which cater to the needs of those approaching and in retirement. The launch of the Standard Life Guaranteed Lifetime Income plan marks the latest proposition to be launched under the partnership, broadening the range of decumulation strategies offered through Fidelity Adviser Solutions.

“With people living longer - and spending longer in retirement - than ever before, the need for flexible solutions which allow advisers to help clients live, save, and spend is fundamental. Our continued partnership with Standard Life presents further opportunities to bring together our respective expertise as we respond to this challenge.”

Additional features and portal integration 

The plan comes with additional features and options, allowing advisers to further tailor plans to their clients’ needs. This includes the option of a Value Protection death benefit, which protects 100% of the purchase price of the plan and ensures that on the death of a client, a lump sum equivalent to the original purchase price of the plan, less any income already received from the plan, is paid to the deceased’s drawdown cash account.

An integrated Quote and Apply Portal within the Fidelity platform also delivers fast guaranteed quotes, allowing advisers to simply and efficiently generate fully underwritten income quotes based on a purchase price or a specific target income within minutes. Applying for and purchasing the Guaranteed Lifetime Income plan is also quick and simple in a seamless integrated Portal journey that is integrated within advisers’ existing platform processes.

Standard Life has also worked closely with leading adviser software providers - CashCalc, Defaqto, and Dynamic Planner - to ensure the plan is built into existing advice processes including client profiling and cash flow modelling tools resulting in a seamless journey for advisers and their clients.

Claire concluded: “Ensuring good outcomes at retirement is one of the biggest challenges faced by the pensions industry, and innovation in the retirement income space is at the heart of this. Through our ongoing strategic partnership with Fidelity we continue to play an increasingly significant role in overcoming these challenges, facilitating the development and distribution of innovative retirement solutions to help people manage their pension savings in retirement. Together these two retirement income solutions provide options for advisers and their clients, which have been developed in a way that align with advisers’ ways of working and ensure good outcomes in retirement. With a guaranteed income element providing certainty on any essential spending, and a smoothed managed fund providing a cushion under the daily uncertainty of investing, the best of both worlds can be achieved – certainty and security alongside growth and flexibility.”