Standard Life pays its former chief more than £1m in salary and bonuses

EUROPE’S largest mutual insurer Standard Life, while considering ditching its prized mutual status to raise cash, paid its former chief executive more than £1 million in salary and bonuses last year.

Iain Lumsden retired in January, two years ahead of schedule, after Standard Life revealed it would have to raise reserves to meet new solvency rules for life insurers.

The possibility of a flotation was a remarkable volte-face for Standard Life. Mr Lumsden, a staunch champion of Standard’s 79-year-old mutual structure, was widely believed to have fallen on his sword. In its annual report, published on the company website, the Edinburgh-based group revealed it had paid Mr Lumsden £897,000 in basic salary and performance-related bonuses over 2003.