Standard Life Canada, founded in the 1830s, became Canada’s fifth-largest life insurance company and was purchased by Manufacturers Life on January 30th, 2015. It was one of the largest acquisitions in Canadian insurance history.
Since that day, all Standard Life plans and policies are administered by Manulife Canada. If you have any questions, you can contact Manulife directly at 1-888-841-6633.
It is worth noting that Standard Life was the first insurer to offer a Total Customer Satisfaction Guarantee on all their insurance products. Following the acquisition, Manulife became the largest life insurance company in Canada.
What Happened to Standard Life in Canada?
Note to Readers
This short, fact-filled post is intended to provide information to existing Standard Life Canada policyholders and consumers. Do you have a Standard Life Insurance Policy in force?
If so, and are you looking to review the details or make some administrative changes, Standard Life VIP has been transferred to the Manulife VIP Room.
Click here for more info.
You can also contact Manulife Customer Service here:
- Manulife Individual Insurance and Investments 1-888-841-6633
- Manulife Group Savings and Retirement 1-800-242-1704
The Manulife VIP Room provides former Standard Life Canada policyholders& group plan members with the following:
- Review your Standard Life insurance policy and features
- Update your address, banking, and personal information
- Make a change of beneficiary request
- Request an insurance certificate replacement
- View or request a copy of your statement
- Administer any changes to your group savings and retirement plan
- Convert Standard Life Term Insurance to a Manulife permanent plan
The History Of Standard Life Canada
Standard Life has a long history dating back to 1825, when it was founded as the Life Insurance Company of Scotland in Edinburgh. In 1832, it changed its name to The Standard Life Assurance Company. Almost a century later, in 1925, it was reorganized as a mutual assurance company.
Standard Life has been operating worldwide since its inception, with the Canadian branch of Standard Life Assurance founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1833. By the late 1800s, Standard Life Insurance sold policies in Canada, Egypt, Germany, India, Ireland, Shanghai, and the West Indies.
I find it interesting how many Canadian life insurance companies started in Quebec. These giants include Desjardins, BMO, Humania, Industrial Alliance (incl iA Excellence), RBC, and SSQ.
Modern Days
Throughout the 20th century, Standard Life gradually expanded its operations beyond basic annuities and insurance to include group benefits, savings, and investments. By 1960, it became the most significant life assurance company in Scotland and Europe’s largest mutual insurance company by the late 1990s. In 1998, Standard Life Investments was established as a dedicated asset management business.
In 2006, The Standard Life Assurance Company was demutualized and transformed into a public company, Standard Life plc. Almost a decade later, in January 2015, Manulife Financial Corp. acquired Standard Life’s Canadian operations for approximately $4 billion in cash.
The Standard Life Manulife Deal
What company took over Standard Life? In 2015, Manulife, one of the largest insurance companies in the world with over 80,000 employees, acquired Standard Life Canada, the fifth-largest Canadian insurer. Standard Life provided long-term savings, investments, and insurance products to approximately 1.4 million Canadians, with $52 billion in assets under administration at the time of acquisition.
This deal doubled Manulife’s assets under management in Canada and made it the second-largest player in the Canadian group retirement business. Additionally, Manulife gained 2,000 new employees from Standard Life and more than $6 billion in assets credited to its mutual fund business in Canada.
Manulife was particularly interested in acquiring Standard Life’s Quebec assets to boost its core businesses.
A New Home: Maison Manuvie
Manulife invested $220 million to construct a new office building, Maison Manuvie, in Montreal, completed in 2017. The state-of-the-art building is located downtown and houses former Standard Life employees and Manulife personnel on 11 floors.
Both companies entered a global collaboration agreement as part of the Standard Life Manulife Deal. This agreement enabled Manulife to deepen Standard Life Investments’ distribution reach by selling Standard Life Investments’ funds in Canada, the United States, and Asia. According to Charles Guay, the former president and CEO of Manulife Quebec, acquiring Standard Life allowed Manulife to improve its offering.
Today, as you may be aware, Manulife is the largest insurance company in Canada and one of the top 30 fund managers in the world.
…and did you know that one of the larger insurance companies in the U.S., John Hancock Financial, is owned by Manulife Canada?
Standard Life Insurance Products
Standard Life Canada was primarily known for its group, investment, and retirement products. It also had a significant life insurance offering, including critical illness, Term, universal, and whole-life policies.
After the Standard Life-Manulife deal was complete, the sales of individual life and critical illness policies stopped. However, existing policyholders still have the option to make changes to their policies. To give you an idea of the insurance products offered by Standard Life of Canada, I’m providing a shortlist below.
Term Insurance
Standard Life Assurance of Canada offered both 10-year and 20-year term products. They have the following features and options:
- Renewable to age 85
- Convertible to Standard life Whole or Universal Life insurance to age 65
- Issue ages 18-70, depending on the term length
- Term rider
- Protecta Critical Illness rider
- Joint first-to-die option
- Minimum coverage $100,000
“Note*: If you have a Standard Life Term policy in force, you may have the option to convert it to permanent coverage, within prescribed limits. It’s always a good idea to review your policy so you know what your options are. With Manulife, your permanent conversion options are limited to Performax Gold Whole Life or Innovision Universal Life.”
Whole Life Insurance
Whole life insurance is a type of permanent coverage that typically includes a cash value feature. Here’s how it works: each month, a small portion of your insurance premium is invested into an account within your insurance policy. Over time, the cash in this account grows and may even compound, creating a nice nest egg.
As a policyholder, you can access cash value in various ways. For example, when you’re older, you can borrow against the policy to supplement your retirement income without incurring income taxes.
Alternatively, you can leave the cash value untouched, knowing it will be added to the death benefit. Your beneficiaries may then use the money to pay estate or capital gains taxes, which can be particularly helpful if you pass down a family property or cottage.
Standard Life Canada’s whole life is non-participating and has life pay and limited pay options with the following features:
- Available as whole life 100 or limited pay options –
- Pay to age 65, pay to age 75, pay 20, 25, or 30 years
- Single, joint first or last-to-die
- Issue ages 18-80 years old
- Cash values available on the 10th policy anniversary
- Reduced paid-up values
Standard Life Universal Life Insurance
Universal Life insurance is permanent coverage with a cash value feature. It offers excellent flexibility but is a complex product to manage. I wrote a detailed post about Universal Life insurance that you can check out by clicking this link.
Standard Life Canada offers a Universal Life insurance policy called Protecta, which includes all the features and options typical of such policies sold by other life insurance companies in Canada.
If you bought a Protecta Universal Life insurance policy before 2015 and haven’t reviewed it, now would be a good time to do so. The Standard Life VIP room has been transferred to Manulife, and you can find more details, phone numbers, and a link at the top of this post.
Critical Illness Coverage
Critical illness is a popular topic among life insurance buyers, but it’s important to be aware of the details. To receive a payout, your illness must meet the specific definitions outlined in your policy. If it doesn’t, you won’t receive any compensation.
I recommend reading my post about the potential pitfalls of critical illness insurance before signing any agreements. One such product, offered by Standard Life Canada, is called Protecta Critical Illness Insurance and has similar features to other critical illness insurance products on the market.
- Available in 10-year terms(Protecta 10), to age 65 (Protecta 65), Term to age 75 (Protecta 75), and Term to age 100 (Protecta 100)
- Looking to cover your kids? Protecta Child – covers 13 childhood illnesses
- Protecta 65 joint protection – covers two lives until age 65
- Return of Premium on Death and Surrender
- Waiver of premium on death or disability
- A Protecta 10 is convertible to Protecta 75 or Protecta 100 within limits
Standard Life Canada – Final Word
Standard Life Canada has a long history can be traced back to Scotland. 2015, Manulife acquired it, making it the largest insurance company in Canada.
If you have a life insurance policy with Standard Life, you can be assured that your investment is secure. It is recommended that you review your coverage and explore your options for the future, whether for yourself or a family member.
To reach out to Standard Life (Manulife), contact 1-888-841-6633.
But if you are in the market for a new policy, don’t forget to give us a call at Policy Architects. We have access to Manulife and much more 1-888-501-9583
