1 JULY 2000, Page 26

Monte Carlo or bust

IF I had bet my old age on a policy from Standard Life, I would vote (so I said before the poll) for leaving things alone. The mem- bers have bet that way, too. They voted against the mysterious man from Monte Carlo who wanted to turn their society into a company and offered to shower them with windfalls. His backers will be disappointed. Now the directors of Standard Life (if they exist, for they were invisible throughout the battle) need to show that mutuality means more than managing a business without the inconvenience of shareholders. After all, if being mutual was what it took, we would all shop at the Co-op.