Phoenix Group, a leading savings and retirement business, announces today that it has agreed a £70 million private placement with Network Homes. The funding will be used by Network Homes to support the development of more social and affordable housing.

The deal is further demonstration of Phoenix Group’s proactive strategy in its approach to Responsible Investment, and managing assets in a way that embeds Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations in the investment decision making process. This is one of the key pillars of Phoenix Group’s sustainability strategy, which seeks to safeguard the interests of its customers, shareholders and the community where it operates over the long-term.

Key features of the transaction with Network homes are:

• £70 million long-dated funding, maturing in 2070
• Maturity profile tailored to match Phoenix’s pension liabilities
• Funding will be used by Network Homes to support the delivery of its ambitious development programme of affordable homes in its primary area of operation

Network Homes is a regulated housing association which owns and manages 20,000 homes, operating in 36 local authority areas across London, Hertfordshire and the South East. They are part of the G15, a group of the largest social housing providers in London. As a charitable housing association with a strong social purpose, Network Homes also invests in the communities where it works, through economic development, employment and training, and social and environmental projects.

Scott Robertson, Head of Phoenix Group Capital, said: “We are delighted to be supporting Network Homes and their strategic plans to deliver more affordable housing. This transaction demonstrates our commitment to responsible long-term investments serving an important social purpose and providing sustainable long-term cash flows to meet our pension customer liabilities. Our strategic partner Aberdeen Standard Investments has provided excellent support throughout this transaction.”

Peter Benz, Executive Director of Finance at Network Homes, said: “Network Homes is very proud to have established long-term relationships with Phoenix Group and Aberdeen Standard Investments, who share our strategic vision of delivering new affordable homes in line with our charitable objectives.”

Anup Dholakia, Director of Treasury at Network Homes added: “We are exceptionally pleased with this innovative transaction, and the engagement with the process demonstrated by Phoenix Group and Aberdeen Standard Investments, under unprecedented operational circumstances. We believe this transaction reflects very positively on the strength of Network Homes’ historic and current performance as well as the aspirational nature of our long-term business plan. We would also like to express our thanks to our placement agent, MUFG, in diligently supporting the transaction through to a successful conclusion.”

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Enquiries

Shellie Wells Head of Corporate Communications
Phoenix Group
020 3735 0922 / 07872 414 137
shellie.wells@thephoenixgroup.com

Rachel Esland
PR and Public Affairs Manager
Phoenix Group
07892 705093
Rachel_esland@standardlife.com

Notes to editors

About Phoenix Group

Phoenix Group is the largest specialist consolidator of heritage life assurance funds in Europe. Its main focus has traditionally been on closed life fund consolidation where it specialises in the acquisition and management of closed life insurance and pension funds (its heritage business).

Alongside this, it has an open business which manufactures and underwrites new products and policies to support people saving for their future and when they come to retire. This open business is underpinned by a strategic partnership with Standard Life Aberdeen following the Phoenix Group’s acquisition of Standard Life Assurance Limited in 2018. Standard Life Assurance is a long-established expert in workplace pensions, personal pensions, long term savings and retirement solutions, and its customers and clients include individual savers and some of the largest employers in the UK, as well as professional advisers. Phoenix Group also has a market leading brand - SunLife - which sells a range of financial products specifically for the over 50s market.

Phoenix Group is a member of the FTSE 100 index, and has 10 million policyholders and £248 billion of assets under management. It has four operating life companies and operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany.

About Network Homes

Network Homes is one of England’s leading housing associations, owning and managing over 20,000 homes, housing over 38,000 people across London, Hertfordshire and the South East. We are a strategic development partner of the Greater London Authority and aim to deliver 5,000 new homes by 2023, plus reach at least 90% customer satisfaction. We believe because good homes make everything possible.

Housing associations were set up to support people in housing need and this remains at the heart of everything we do today.  We’re an independent, charitable organisation and all the money we make is reinvested in building more affordable homes and delivering services for our residents.

Network Homes supports the aim of the G15’s Offer to London – a series of pledges from London’s largest housing associations to the capital’s 32 boroughs. The Offer sets out how housing associations and councils can collaborate to deliver more genuinely affordable homes for Londoners, alleviate homelessness, and invest in sustainable communities. 

The G15 is the collective voice of some of the leading organisations in the housing sector. Its members house one in ten Londoners and are the largest providers of affordable homes in the capital, building a quarter of all London’s new homes, and owning or managing more than 600,000 homes. Helen Evans, Network Homes’ Chief Executive, became the first female Chair of the G15 in July 2019.