Phoenix Group Holdings plc (formerly Pearl Group plc) is a provider of
insurance
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...
services based in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, England. It is listed on the
London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pa ...
and is a constituent of the
FTSE 100 Index
The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with (in principle) the highest mar ...
.
History
The company was founded in 1857 as The Pearl Loan Company and operated from the Royal Oak
Public House
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...
opposite the
Whitechapel Bell Foundry
The Whitechapel Bell Foundry was a business in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. At the time of the closure of its Whitechapel premises, it was the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain. The bell foundry primarily made church bell ...
.
It changed its name to The Pearl Assurance Company in 1914,
[ when it moved to 252 High Holborn where it was based until moving its head office to ]Peterborough
Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...
1989. In 1990, it was acquired by the Australian insurance group, AMP, and in 2003, Pearl, NPI and London Life were demerged from AMP to become part of Henderson Group.[ It acquired Resolution Life (including its ]Phoenix Assurance
Phoenix Assurance or Phoenix Fire Office was a fire insurance company founded in 1680 in England.The Times, 27 June 1785 Classified Advertising
The history of the company includes the nostalgia of red-coated attendants clattering to the fires ...
operations) in 2008. In 2009, the business was acquired by the Liberty Acquisition Holdings (International) Company (a vehicle controlled by billionaire Nicolas Berggruen), which subsequently renamed itself Pearl Group.
In 2010, Pearl Group rebadged as Phoenix Group Holdings. In March 2014, the business sold Ignis Asset Management to Standard Life Investments, the asset management arm of Standard Life.
In 2018, Phoenix Group agreed to acquire Standard Life Assurance from Standard Life Aberdeen for £2.9 billion. As part of the transaction Standard Life Aberdeen retained a stake in the combined group.
In 2020, Phoenix completed the acquisition of fellow closed book specialist ReAssure Group from Swiss Re.
In 2021, it was announced that Phoenix had acquired the rights to the Standard Life brand and had undertaken additional steps to simplify the relationship with Standard Life Aberdeen that had developed since the acquisition of the Standard Life business three years previously.
Operations
Phoenix Group comprises a number of regulated life companies in the UK:
See also
* Phoenix Fire Office
References
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
Financial services companies established in 1857
Insurance companies of the United Kingdom
Financial services companies based in the City of London
British companies established in 1857
1857 establishments in England
Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange
Companies based in Peterborough