UK Life: Bulk pulls less weight

Research evidence excerpt

UK Life: Bulk pulls less weight

Idea

July 27, 2026 03:00 AM GMT

Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc+MInsurance | Europe Alexa Psillos, FASSA

Equity Analyst

UK Life: Bulk pulls less weight Alexa.Psillos@morganstanley.comHadley Cohen +44 20 7677-2384

Hadley.Cohen@morganstanley.com +44 20 7425-3289

We turn more cautious on UK BPA as supply-demand dynamics Daniel Wilson-Omordia

add incremental pressure to earnings and look to areas beyond EquityDaniel.Wilson-Omordia@morganstanley.comAnalyst +44 20 7677-3618

bulk driving future growth. With our preference now for names

Insurance

with more diversified, capital-light earnings, we downgrade L&G Europe

to Underweight and upgrade Standard Life to Overweight Industry View In-Line

What’s Changed

Key Takeaways LegalRatingand General (LGEN.L) FromEqual-weight ToUnderweight

We turn more cautious on UK BPA as insurers face incremental pressure from Price Target 240p 230p

both supply and demand sides, creating downside risk for earnings. Standard Life PLC (SDLF.L) From To

Rating Equal-weight Overweight

We upgrade Standard Life to Overweight on attractive valuation, capital-return

Price Target 805p 980p

optionality and improving earnings mix.

M&G PLC (MNG.L) From To

We downgrade L&G to Underweight on gearing to BPA, subdued performance Price Target 310p 320p

across the group and dividend coverage.

With this note, coverage of the four UK life

We maintain Aviva and M&G at Equal-weight: both diversified and well positioned companies transfers to Alexa Psillos.

beyond BPA, but valuation looks broadly fair.

In this note, we take a more cautious stance on the UK BPA market, as insurers

face incremental pressure from both the supply and demand sides (see Turning

Cautious on BPA ), likely translating into slower new business flow momentum,