All change for Standard?

mutuality and with-profits

Standard Life"s mutual status is linked to with-profits, and with-profits as a marketing pitch is in a lot of trouble. However, demutualisation of the group would remove an all-important competitive layer from the industry

On the face of it, the argument is blindingly obvious. Mutuals should give better value to their customers than plcs, because plcs have to take some of their profits and pass them on to their owners, the shareholders, in the form of dividends, while mutuals can pass all their profits on to their customers. Put another way, the primary purpose of a plc is to take as much money as it can from its customers and give it to its shareholders, whereas the primary purpose of a mutual is to enrich its investors. This fundamental difference in business objectives is what accounts for Standard Life"...