Crombie Has No Intention of Stepping Down Standard Life Chief Looks to the Future

By SIMON BAIN

IT was almost like old times at Standard Life’s annual meeting – 10 years ago, when the policyholders in attendance were outnumbered by the directors, in a small room at the then mutual society’s headquarters.

Yesterday in Edinburgh, the new plc laid on the biggest auditorium in the city, and a panoply of webcast cameras, voting gadgets, media facilities, minders and munchies – to welcome just 80 of Standard’s 1.5 million shareholders.

It was a far cry from the 600 who, in the same hall three years ago, gave the board an acutely uncomfortable ride as it argued the case for demutualisation, with chief executive Sandy Crombie bestriding the stage in shirt-sleeves to ad lib an impassioned defence of Standard’s strategic U-turn.

Back then, he was on a sticky wicket, insisting that “pain has been felt by all of the stakeholders in Standard Life” while under fire for a GBP2.75m increase in his pension during the year in question.

This time, Crombie’s speech at the podium was rigidly scripted, and so low-key that at times it was barely audible.

Although most things had changed, one had not: the chief executive is not for quitting. For three years, Crombie, who is 60 next February, has been at the centre of speculation as to his retirement date. This was heightened when in January, the man seen as best qualified to succeed him, head of UK business Trevor Matthews, jumped ship for Friends Provident.

But yesterday, though never quite stated openly, the message was loud and clear: Crombie has no intention of going, and as long as the business is doing well, the chairman has no intention of asking him when he might.

The only clue from the fit-looking, though hardly dynamic- sounding, 59-yearold was his final coda.

His script read: “I look forward to keeping you upto-date with our progress”, but he inserted the words “on future occasions” . . . suggesting a healthy appetite for further annual meetings.

Gerry Grimstone, chairman, whose appearance on crutches as a result of a gym injury did little to lift the tempo of the proceedings, made light of the succession speculation. “It is almost as though we were running some kind of horse race in Standard Life, with people running round trying to guess which horse to put a bit of money on. The situation inside the company isn’t like that at all.” Hopefully, not in Standard Life Investments, either.

Grimstone was also fulsome in his praise for his chief executive. “It is very good for Standard Life that we have at the moment in Standard Life a very experienced CEO, ” he commented. It was not clear how long the “moment” would last. “Sandy is leading the team which is producing a very fine set of results for the company.”

He was right on top of the power play, though. “I talk about the succession arrangements with the chief executive and we have an open dialogue about the future, ” said Grimstone.

Questioned after the meeting, the chairman added: “There is no formal retirement date in Standard Life, full stop. We don’t have a pretend one behind the scenes, people retire by mutual agreement when it’s time for them to do so. I think Sandy is a fit, active, able man, and he was incredibly irked by people writing his obituary from the age of 57 onwards.”

Asked by The Herald whether he was aware of any game plan Crombie had for his own retirement, Grimstone responded: “No, and I think I would know about it if he did.”

Originally published by Newsquest Media Group.

(c) 2008 Herald, The; Glasgow (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.