Life chief gives up £500,000 in bonuses

SANDY CROMBIE, the 55-year-old chief executive of Standard Life, is giving up just over £500,000 in bonuses and rewards he was due to receive for the last four years.

Crombie, who was promoted to the role a year ago after the abrupt departure of Iain Lumsden, is steering Standard Life through demutualisation with a potential windfall for policyholders and executives when it floats on the stock market in 2006.

In the meantime he has decided to give up large cash payments he was due to receive for his performance as chief executive of the institutional fund management arm, Standard Life Investments, under the group's long-term investment plan.

He will also forgo his annual bonus for the year that ended on 15 November 2004. Together, the awards totalled more than £500,000. Finance director John Hylands has given up a smaller award under the long-term incentive plan.

Crombie said that he felt the actions he has taken to restore profitability, including sacking 2000 staff, had not yet shown their benefits to members. He said he must ally his interest with those of the members by declining any annual bonus until the company's performance was seen to respond to the actions he had taken.

He said: "I hope members will accept my decision relating to reward as a principled decision in respect of the past as well as an expression of my confidence in the future." Crombie was paid £603,000 in 2003, including a bonus of £135,000.