IS THE SALES MISS A PROBLEM FOR STANDARD LIFE?
BARRIE CORNES | PANMURE GDN
The figures are solid if not spectacular. Long term savings net inflows were slightly disappointing with life and pension net inflows at £3,280m, some 16 per cent below consensus. In the UK it is well placed ahead of the introduction of the RDR and pension reform, but is trading on one of the lowest valuations in the sector.
KEVIN RYAN | INVESTEC
Given the market environment we believe the numbers are reasonable. The feature was the 13 per cent rise in UK present value of new business premium for the nine months, to £11.3bn. Our £11.4bn forecast was not met but, in retrospect, this was an ambitious target given the market turmoil.
TREVOR MOSS | BERENBERG BANK
We would not read too much into this at this stage. Winning new scheme mandates is by nature lumpy and the overall trends have been reasonable. But while Standard Life is doing well in group pensions, SIPPS and retail funds, it is by no means doing much better than anyone else, despite massive investment in these areas in recent years.