Standard Life assets rise 9% on strong sales

Life and pensions group Standard Life today reported a 9 per cent rise in assets under administration to £237.6 billion for the first nine months of the year.

The Edinburgh-based firm also said new business sales for the nine months to 30 September jumped 20 per cent to £17.3bn, just shy of analysts’ forecasts of £17.4bn, while fee-based revenues grew 15 per cent to £1bn.

Chief executive David Nish said: “Standard Life has made good progress in the first nine months of the year, delivering substantial growth in net flows, assets and fee based revenue.”

Nish said the group’s corporate business saw pension customers rise 195,000 to 1.4 million as more than 100 employers set up auto-enrolment pension schemes.

At Standard Life Investments, the firm’s fund management arm, third-party assets under management rose 13 per cent to £94.2bn, although this was lower than the £96.4bn forecast by analysts.