# The Standard The Standard is an Insurance based in Portland, Oregon, United States. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Insurance - **Headquarters:** Portland, Oregon, United States - **Region:** North America - **Address:** 1100 SW Sixth Avenue, Portland, OR 97204, United States - **Founded:** 1906 - **Assets under management:** $50B–$100B (Altss estimate) - **Website:** www.standard.com - **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-standard ## About StanCorp Investment Advisers, the registered investment advisor arm of The Standard, was formed in 2000 to manage the insurance company's general account alongside external advisory services. The entity traces its roots to the 1906 founding of the Oregon Life Insurance Company and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company, one of Japan's largest mutual insurers. That 2016 acquisition — completed at $5 billion in cash — shifted The Standard's governance from public markets to a long-duration Japanese parent with a multi-decade investment horizon. The firm's investment posture is credit-intensive and liability-driven. The general account splits across three primary allocations: fixed-maturity securities, commercial mortgage loans, and private placements. On the real-asset side, The Standard holds direct commercial property stakes, including its Portland headquarters at 1100 SW Sixth Avenue, the Stonemill Business Park in Vancouver, Washington, and a Hillsboro office complex. The commercial mortgage loan portfolio extends across US markets, while the fixed-maturity book spans global investment-grade and high-yield corporates. The firm also maintains a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and New Markets Tax Credit portfolio — a direct federal policy-linked allocation that generates yield while satisfying community reinvestment obligations. Total assets under management hover in the $50–$100 billion band (Altss estimate), driven by insurance reserves from group disability, life, and retirement plan products. The StanCorp Investment Advisers RIA extends the platform to external clients, advising individuals, pension plans, and charitable organizations — a smaller book relative to the captive balance sheet. The firm operates from a Pacific Northwest base with a growing community-investment bridge to Japan. Meiji Yasuda's ownership introduced formal ties to Japanese institutional networks, and The Standard participates actively in the Japan-America Society of Oregon. May 2024: The Standard appointed a new CIO to its investment management division, reinforcing internal asset management capabilities as the general account grows. The structural differentiator is The Standard's dual identity: a regulated US insurance carrier with pension-like liability matching, wholly owned by a Japanese mutual that faces its own demographic headwinds. Most US insurers of this scale run public-company quarterly earnings cycles. The Standard, inside Meiji Yasuda, answers to a mutual policyholder base in Tokyo. That governance arrangement — rare among mid-tier US carriers — aligns the investment office with a genuinely long-cycle asset-liability mandate, visible in the portfolio's heavy commercial-mortgage and tax-credit concentration. ## Sectors - Real Estate - Private Credit - Fixed Income ## Offices - Hillsboro, OR - Vancouver, WA ## People - Dan McMillan — President and Chief Executive Officer - Greg Ness — Chairman of the Board ## Questions ### Who owns The Standard and how does that affect its investment strategy? The Standard is a wholly owned subsidiary of Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company, a Tokyo-based mutual insurer that acquired the firm in 2016 for $5 billion. That structure eliminates public-market earnings pressure and aligns the investment office with a genuinely long-duration asset-liability mandate. The Japanese parent's own demographic challenges — an aging policyholder base — reinforce a yield-focused, credit-intensive allocation. ### What is the composition of The Standard's general account? The general account splits across fixed-maturity securities, commercial mortgage loans, and private placements. Fixed-maturity holdings include global investment-grade and high-yield corporates. The commercial mortgage portfolio spans US markets, supplemented by direct commercial property ownership in Oregon and Washington. A Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and New Markets Tax Credit allocation layers federal policy-linked yield atop the core credit book. ### Does The Standard manage third-party capital, or only its insurance balance sheet? StanCorp Investment Advisers, the firm's registered investment advisor, advises external clients including individuals, pension plans, and charitable organizations. That external book is significantly smaller than the captive general account and operates alongside it rather than as a standalone asset management business. ### How does The Standard's commercial real estate portfolio break down geographically? Direct holdings include its Portland headquarters at 1100 SW Sixth Avenue, an office complex in Hillsboro, Oregon, and Stonemill Business Park in Vancouver, Washington. The commercial mortgage loan portfolio extends nationally, with exposure diversified across US markets. No disclosed international real estate holdings exist beyond the domestic portfolio. ### What is The Standard's relationship with the Japan-America Society of Oregon? The Standard is an active corporate member of the Japan-America Society of Oregon, participating in events and cross-border initiatives. This membership reflects the firm's integration into Meiji Yasuda's institutional network and provides a formal bridge between the Portland-based investment team and the Tokyo parent's broader institutional relationships. ### What role do tax-credit investments play in the portfolio? The Standard maintains dedicated Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and New Markets Tax Credit allocations. These generate yield through federal tax benefits while satisfying community reinvestment obligations tied to its regulated insurance status. The tax-credit portfolio sits alongside the core credit and real estate allocations as a distinct policy-linked sleeve. ## Related profiles - [The Spirax Sarco, Inc. Pension Plan](https://altss.com/profile/the-spirax-sarco-inc-pension-plan) - [The Summit Charitable Foundation](https://altss.com/profile/the-summit-charitable-foundation) --- Last updated: 2026-07-08T22:33:43.737Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/the-standard Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology