Thomson joined Standard Life in 1834 as secretary,[1] and was appointed manager in 1837, with Thomas Robertson as his clerk and sub-cashier.
[9] Under his management, Standard Life retreated from Europe, and turned their focus to Latin America, the West Indies, South Africa, and Egypt.
[10] During this time Standard Life also looked towards the North American business, with offices expanding into the western provinces of Canada after 1911, with particular focus on Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, all of which were thriving under the recent wheat boom.
[17] To stimulate new business, investigations were to take place every three years from 1920,[18] and in 1921 the Acme scheme, already a popular product in Canada, was implemented in the United Kingdom.
First proposed in 1921, mutualisation was approved by shareholder vote and confirmed with a bill passed by parliament in 1925, in time for the company's centenary celebrations.
During the Wall Street crash of 1929, Macnaghten increased holdings of government securities and placing greater importance on industrial investments.
With an interest in investment performance, Albert King and Andrew Rutherford Davidson were key to the shift in focus from mortgages to ordinary shares in 1926,[22] and following the Wall Street crash in 1929, Albert King was responsible for calculating values of each class of marketable security, which formed the basis of understanding for the investment committee.
[26] Across the early 1930s Davidson worked hard to create a branch network across towns and cities, and encouraged a re-design of company promotional materials.
Despite staff being members of the reserves, Davidson carried the company through the war and ensured its survival by obtaining new business where possible, maintaining connections with agencies, and cutting costs.
[28] Outside normal business, Davidson was responsible for creating an annual football fixture between the London and Edinburgh offices, as it was practice for staff to organise an outing on the Whit-Monday bank holiday.
[37] In addition, Dow contributed to the company sporting legacy, presenting a challenge cup for an annual golf tournament between Standard Life and Scottish Widows.
[38] Donald was promoted from actuary to manager in March 1970, taking over from James Bremner Dow, during a time of uncertainty for the future of the pensions business.
[42] In addition to his work within Standard Life, Donald was invested in the arts and various sports, convincing the board to sponsor within both areas, beginning with the opera Die Meistersinger.
[55] As group managing director, Bell was keen to expand the Canadian business, resulting in a restructuring of the branch in the late 1980s.
In addition to a focus on existing business, Bell oversaw expansion into Europe and the Far East by entering Spanish and German markets, and reviving connections in India and China throughout the 1990s.
[57] In 2000 Bell successfully led a campaign to stop the company from demutualising, and he retired from his role as Group managing director in 2002.
[49] Following Scott Bell's reorganisation of the management team in 1988, Lumsden was appointed Group finance director and offered a seat on the board in 1989.
Lumsden succeeded Scott Bell as Chief Executive in 2002, and immediately needed to address ongoing calls for demutualisation of the company.