Standard Life corporate wrap could include mortgages and protection

Standard Life is planning to roll out its corporate wrap in early 2010 and may expand it to include mortgages and protection.

The corporate wrap, which will offer group ISAs, pensions and flexible benefits to employees, had initially been slated to launch later this year.

Although non-pension saving will be the main focus of the employee wealth plan it could also reach into areas untouched by wraps like mortgages, health insurance and protection, said Jamie Jenkins (pictured), head of employee wealth at Standard Life.

‘I think people will need to save more and that will be the mainstay of the employee benefits platform’, said Jenkins. Tax changes at the last budget only encouraged people to save via ISAs over pensions, he added. 

The employee wealth plan could also be extended to offer health insurance and protection to workers. ‘That is for the future,’ he said.

The employee wealth plan will also offer tools and guide for workers to help them plan for saving and retirement. ‘We see it as very import that it is not just a set of products but offering tools and education to help employees make decisions about how and when to save.’ 

Standard Life has been approached by a number of national firms interested in a corporate wrap, said Jenkins, and it already runs a bespoke corporate ISA plan for employees of GlaxoSmithKline, which was set up in November 2008.  

However, Jenkins does not think the term corporate wrap fits the employee benefits markets. ‘People in wrap are operating under full advice and have significant means,’ he said.  ‘We don’t think corporate wrap is the right distribution method for workplace.’ 

The issue of employees worried about their boss having access to information on their savings and pensions had already been solved, said Jenkins. ‘They have already sought to restrict this under our corporate pension offering,’ said Jenkins. ‘This is an absolute requirement [for the employee wealth plan].’ 

Standard Life’s launch date will put it head to head with Friends Provident’s corporate wrap, developed by FNZ and scheduled for a first quarter 2010 launch. Jenkins confirmed the Standard Life corporate wrap was being developed in-house with online employee benefit service Vebnet, which was acquired by the Edinburgh-based life office in September 2008.   

Friends Provident and Standard Life will also face competition from another corporate wrap, being built again by FNZ for an as yet unnamed company.