With 10,000 employees globally, Standard Life plc is a major international financial services group headquartered in Scotland. It provides asset-managing services for retirement, investment and protection to some 6.5 million customers globally. It had C$278.3 billion in assets under administration, as at December 31, 2008. It has offices in the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, Germany, Austria, India, China and Hong Kong.

The Standard Life Assurance Company of Canada is Standard Life plc's largest operation outside the U.K., with 2,000 employees based in Montreal and across Canada, serving more than 1.3 million Canadians, including group insurance and pension plan participants. Products and services include group savings and retirement, group insurance, individual life insurance, savings and retirement, mutual funds and portfolio management.

Standard Life plc has approximately 1.5 million shareholders worldwide, including approximately 14,000 institutional and individual shareholders in Canada. It has been trading on the London Stock Exchange since The Standard Life Assurance Company demutualized in 2006. Standard Life plc is listed on the FTSE 100, Europe's largest index, and on the FTSE4Good Index, which identifies companies adhering to globally recognized corporate responsibility standards.