Director/PDMR Shareholding

Standard Life plc
08 August 2006


                               Standard Life plc

  Automatic Conversion of Existing Cash-Based Long Term Incentive Plan Awards


On 1 January 2005 and 1 January 2006 the Remuneration Committee of The Standard
Life Assurance Company granted cash-based Long Term Incentive Plan ('LTIP')
awards to various executives.  Under the LTIP rules, all these cash-based awards
automatically convert to share-based LTIP awards using the average share price
of Standard Life plc ('the Company') for the 20 dealing days from the flotation
of the Company on 10 July 2006.  This average share price was 247.975 pence,
7.8% higher than the flotation price of 230 pence per share.

The maximum numbers of ordinary shares in the Company subject to the 2005 and
2006 LTIP awards to persons discharging managerial responsibilities ('PDMRs')
following this conversion are as follows:

                      PDMRs                         Number of shares subject to   Number of shares subject to
                                                          2005 LTIP award               2006 LTIP award
Sandy Crombie (Executive Director)                            458,715                       494,001
John Hylands (Executive Director)                             133,561                       137,302
Trevor Matthews (Executive Director)                          191,551                       201,633
Alison Reed (Executive Director)                              154,456                       181,469
Keith Skeoch (Executive Director)                             80,653                        80,653
Joseph Iannicelli (Senior Manager)                            45,577                        64,354
Anne Gunther (Senior Manager)                                 92,751                        98,397
Mike Hall (Senior Manager)                                    70,974                        76,620
Marcia Campbell (Senior Manager)                              83,879                        89,525


The 2005 LTIP awards will normally vest after 1 January 2008 and the 2006 LTIP
awards will normally vest after 1 January 2009, subject to continued employment
and only to the extent that a performance target (described in the Company's
Prospectus published on 15 June 2006) is satisfied.  Vesting will not occur
until the Company's Remuneration Committee has reviewed the performance
condition and reached its conclusion.  Once vested, awards will be capable of
exercise for a period of six months.

No consideration was paid for the grant of awards or their automatic conversion
into rights to acquire shares, and no payment is due on the vesting and exercise
of these awards that are now structured as nil-cost share options.

These LTIP awards pre-dated the flotation of the Company and no other LTIP
awards were granted at or around the time of the flotation.  It is envisaged
that the next grant of LTIP awards will be made in 2007 following the
announcement of the Company's results for the year ending 31 December 2006.


8 August 2006


Enquiries:

Barry Cameron, Press Office 0131 245 6165
Emma Wylie, Press Office 020 7872 4154
Gordon Aitken, Investor Relations 0131 245 6799
Julie Reith, Group Secretariat 0131 245 6772


END


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