Standard Life sues insurers over £100m pension fund losses

Standard Life is suing insurers including ACE European Group for £100m over claims its policy should have covered a loss on asset-backed securities triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

Bloomberg reports court documents show the insurer was forced to inject £100m into its Standard Life Pension Sterling Fund in 2009 during the credit-market contraction following Lehman's 2008 failure.

The fund was marketed as a low-risk, cash-based investment, and the subsequent losses led to hundreds of complaints from Standard Life investors.

Sandy Crombie, Standard Life's former chief executive officer and chairman, testified in court that the marketing literature for the fund had been "hopelessly inadequate."

The company's response to the losses was motivated by a desire to do "the right thing," he said.