Standard Life exits insurance business

Standard Life Aberdeen Plc is getting out of the insurance business. The Edinburgh based company agreed to sell the unit to Phoenix Group Holdings for £3.2 billion ($4.5 billion). The transaction will free up cash for Standard Life Aberdeen to pursue M&A deals as part of its ambition to become a $1 trillion money manager at a time when that part of the businesses is struggling to stem outflows. “We felt that Phoenix was the more natural owner,” Gilbert said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “It’s a capital heavy business and we’re more capital light.