DALBAR ranks the new Standard Life Plan for life statement second in its
trends and best practices report

MONTREAL, Dec. 23 /CNW Telbec/ - The Standard Life Assurance Company of Canada is proud to announce that it's new Plan for life™ statement for group savings and retirement plan members ranked second in Canada, receiving an Excellent rating in the DALBAR Trends and Best Practices in Defined Contribution Pension Plan Statements report. 

Standard Life's Plan for life member statement also received the DALBAR Communications seal, used to differentiate those organizations that recognize the importance of customer communications and that have developed high quality solutions to meet their customers' needs, preferences, and accessibility requirements.

Considered to be one of the main tools that can contribute to sound financial planning, the Plan for life revamped statement highlights the important information members need in order to make informed decisions about their retirement income planning.

"We believe that members have the right to expect more simplicity, clarity and quality in all forms of communication they receive. We also think that a statement that answers these qualifications encourages members to feel more engaged in their retirement planning," said Emmanuelle Couillard, Manager, Product Management, Group Savings and Retirement Members at Standard Life.

According to DALBAR, with redesigned statements from companies leading the way like Standard Life, the defined contribution pension plan industry continues to be a source of highly innovative statement features. This is the only industry to introduce goal-tracking features onto the statement, as well as to implement targeted and client-personalized messaging on a wide scale.

About DALBAR
As the world's premier financial services strategy and operations research firm, DALBAR, inc. helps leading enterprises develop, build, and operate strong businesses that deliver sustained shareholder value growth. DALBAR's proprietary business design techniques, combined with its specialized industry knowledge and behavioural research expertise, enable companies to anticipate changes in customer priorities and the competitive environment, and then design their businesses and improve operations to seize opportunities created by those changes. The firm serves clients in the Americas and Europe.

About Standard Life
Standard Life is a leading provider of long-term savings and investment solutions to over 6 million customers worldwide. Headquartered in Scotland, it has offices in the UK, Canada, Ireland, Germany, Austria, India, USA, Hong Kong and mainland China. In Canada, Standard Life has been doing business for over 175 years. With over 2,000 employees based in Montréal and in offices across Canada, it provides long-term savings, investment and insurance solutions to more than 1.3 million Canadians, including group insurance and retirement plan members. It had C$38.2 billion of assets under administration, as at September 30, 2010. For more information, visit Standard Life's website at www.standardlife.ca.

For further information:

Valérie Lamarre
Advisor, External Communications and Public Affairs
514-499-7999, ext. 8150
[email protected]