• Member access to high-quality private assets that aim to deliver growth and improve long-term member outcomes
  • Differentiated by design with a focus on quality of assets; manager independence; governance, oversight, and transparency
  • Future Opportunities universal profile complements the strong foundation of Standard Life’s flagship c£39bn Sustainable Multi Asset default strategy
  • Available at launch for selection as a default by new and existing business across trust-based products including DC Master Trust and own trust

Standard Life, the retirement specialist focused entirely on retirement savings and income, has formally launched Future Opportunities, its new and highly anticipated alternative pension default solution, focused on driving better member outcomes by embracing private markets.

Future Opportunities is the latest evolution of Standard Life’s successful Sustainable Multi Asset strategy and is positioned to provide greater flexibility and optionality for those employers who would like to maintain the strengths of the existing lifestyle strategy but gain significant access to assets that have the potential to deliver better outcomes, including private markets.

With an increasing consideration being given to value over cost of pension provision in the UK, and the regulatory environment facilitating access to private market investing, Future Opportunities will provide scheme members with opportunities that have previously only been available to professional investors.

Based on its current forward-looking assumptions, Standard Life believes that a long‑term private markets allocation of around 25% has the potential to enhance returns and improve diversification for customers. Its strategic asset allocation and portfolio management process will gradually introduce private assets on a prudent basis as opportunities arise, alongside initial public market investments. Throughout, the solution will evolve on a dynamic basis, based on investments assumptions and prevailing market conditions to ensure members remain invested in a portfolio that reflects the most appropriate balance of risk and return at any point in time.

Design and oversight

Future Opportunities is differentiated by design with a focus on the quality of private market opportunities; complete manager independence and discretion; and wholly transparent fees and charges that future proofs the solution and allows it to evolve as the private market asset class is embedded within pension defaults.

To enable its private markets’ strategy, Standard Life has incorporated significant oversight to closely monitor the solution, embedding a series of reviews across strategic asset allocation; asset quality, considered pace of deployment and impact on net member outcomes, and fee transparency via a clearly defined performance fee model.

Targeting high-quality opportunities

With an emphasis on securing assets of the highest quality, Standard Life is drawing on the private market expertise of Future Growth Capital (FGC)1, a dedicated private markets solutions investment manager established in the UK to facilitate improved outcomes for pension savers. The objective is for private assets to deliver better returns with lower volatility than public markets – improving net member outcomes and offering enhanced risk adjusted returns.

Independence, discretion, and expertise

Future Growth Capital is a differentiator for the Standard Life proposition, with its entirely dedicated focus on designing and delivering private asset solutions for UK savers. FGC specialises in private markets' assets allocation, manager selection, direct deal underwriting, portfolio construction underpinned by ESG factors, relative value analysis, and ongoing portfolio management. Importantly, it operates with investment independence, focussing solely on delivering net-outcomes for members.

Transparency: fees and charges

Standard Life has also unveiled a clear and transparent charging structure as it introduces significant private market investing within a default for the first time. It includes an overall variable annual management charge (AMC) for private markets, and a specific LTAF performance fee, designed to ensure members only pay more when performance targets are met. The variable AMC at the overall default level ensures that members are only charged for the private assets that are in the solution today, not an anticipated allocation in the future, and facilitates a route for them to access quality growth opportunities that have only previously been available to professional investors.

The performance fee approach only applies to the private markets’ allocation within Future Opportunities. The structure which has been designed is unique and ensures that members only pay performance fees when the entire private markets portfolio meets its return targets.

Alasdair Birrell, Workplace Investment Development Lead at Standard Life said: “Future Opportunities is a strong addition to our workplace offering as private market investing becomes a key component in the evolution of pension saving in the UK. Though currently unfamiliar to employers and DC members, we anticipate strong demand among those seeking the potential for better returns and added diversification as we pave the way to make investing in private markets mainstream for millions of pensions savers.

“It’s going to be a multi-year journey, and we’ll grow the allocation gradually and prudently to ensure outcomes are always prioritised, while continually building trust and familiarity in private assets among our clients and members. Under a variable charging structure members only pay for the private allocation they have and not the one we're targeting long term.”

Future Opportunities is also differentiated by Standard Life’s sustainable investment principles and consistent application of Sustainability Improvers™2 labelling for underlying listed equity and investment grade credit allocations.

Gail Izat, Managing Director of Workplace at Standard Life said: “Future Opportunities builds on our strong track record of continually developing our proposition to improve outcomes for members. The proven blueprint of our Sustainable Multi Asset solution combined with a significant tilt to private markets provides more choice to employers and the prospect of higher returns to members."

The launch of Future Opportunities continues to place Standard Life at the forefront of developments to integrate opportunities offered by private markets in its pension propositions. Standard Life was also an original signatory of the Mansion House Compact, and one of 17 leading pension providers who signed the Mansion House Accord, demonstrating a voluntary commitment to investing more of its default pension options in private markets by 2030, provided this supports better outcomes for scheme members.

Andy Briggs, Chief Executive, Standard Life plc said: “For too long, UK pension savers have received lower returns than their counterparts in Australia and Canada, partly because the UK allocated much less capital to private markets assets than other countries.

“Future Opportunities is a clear demonstration of how we are focused on helping our customers achieve better outcomes and greater financial security in later life.”

Standard Life has begun collaborating with regulators to implement change that will enable fair access to private market solutions for members in contract-based products and is additionally planning options to provide the solution to the Master Trust self-select range.

- Ends -

Notes to editors

  1. Phoenix Group and Schroders to launch new private markets investment manager
  2. Standard Life completes Sustainability Disclosure labelling implementation

Future Opportunities Asset Mix: The new strategy provides a mix of private equity, real assets, private debt, and venture capital to deliver added diversification to the other public asset classes within the profile that includes listed equity, UK property, fixed income, and liquid alternatives.

About Standard Life plc (‘Standard Life’)

  • Standard Life is a retirement specialist focused entirely on retirement saving and income.
  • We are proud to manage around c£317bn in assets on behalf of our 12 million customers, and we champion the belief that everyone's journey to and through retirement can be better.
  • With our focus entirely on retirement savings and income we want to be the business that people trust to guide their retirement journey, helping our customers achieve better outcomes and greater financial security in later life.
  • As a FTSE 100-listed group we are using our size, expertise, and influence to shape the world our customers will retire into and are committed to helping three million customers by 2035, take action towards a better retirement.
  • Standard Life is a responsible investor with a clear commitment to supporting a more sustainable future. The company has achieved its net zero goal across its emissions for 2025 and is working towards net zero investment portfolios by 2050 or sooner.
  • Standard Life is recognised as a leading employer, with long-standing accreditation as a Living Wage Employer, Living Pension Employer and Carer Positive Exemplary Employer and in 2025 became one of Britain’s Most Admired Companies in 2025.

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