Dividend hike for Standard Life as profits rise

The group said pre-tax operating profits hit £665 million last year, driven by a 10 per cent jump in fee-based revenues to almost £1.6 billion.

Assets under administration were up 4 per cent to £307.4 billion despite “volatile” market conditions, helped by net inflows of £6.3bn – up from £1bn in 2014.

Standard Life said it added more than 250,000 new customers through auto-enrolment, contributing to a 9 per cent increase in regular contributions into workplace pension schemes to £2.9bn.

Meanwhile, investment arm Standard Life Investments has seen its assets under management rise to £253.2bn in 2015, with a 33 per cent increase in pre-tax operating profit, despite outflows from the recently-acquired Ignis business.

The asset management division posted a 33 per cent increase in pre-tax operating profit, from £257m to £342m.

Total assets under management at SLI rose to £253.2bn in the year, up from £245.9bn in 2014. The asset management division also grew third-party assets by 11 per cent, to £130.5bn for the year.

SLI’s inflows were offset by £2.5bn of outflows from the Ignis business, which includes a £1.7bn divestment from a “low revenue margin mandate”. This is a slowing of the £4.3bn of outflows seen in 2014 and leaves assets in the Ignis group at £11.1bn.

Net retails flows for SLI stood at £9.3bn for the year, significantly up on 2014’s £5.2bn net inflows, taking retail assets to £45.9bn at the end of the year.

Standard Life Wealth saw net flows of £200m for the year, with outflows cancelling out a lot of the £900m of inflows seen in the year. Assets in the division now stand at £6.5bn.

Standard Life chief executive Keith Skeoch said: “During 2015 Standard Life has made considerable progress towards creating a world-class investment company against a backdrop of volatile investment markets and an evolving regulatory landscape.

“We have increased the assets that we administer on behalf of our clients and customers to £307bn with almost two thirds of these assets now coming from our Growth Channels. Investments are at the heart of what we do and we now manage £253bn of assets across the globe driven by strong investment performance.

“We continue to see the benefits of our expanding distribution capabilities and strategic relationships with 67 per cent of net inflows of £12.6bn into our Institutional and Wholesale Growth Channels coming from outside of the UK.

“We also continue to build momentum in Pensions and Savings across our Workplace and Retail channels. Regular contributions into our workplace pensions continue to grow strongly while our Wrap platform attracted record net inflows and continues to lead in the advised platform market.

“While the difficult conditions in global financial markets may persist for some time, Standard Life remains well positioned to meet the needs of clients and customers around the world. The breadth of our investment propositions, underpinned by strong investment performance and innovation, combined with our strength in pensions and savings, the power of a trusted brand and a strong balance sheet, means that we have a well-diversified and resilient business that continues to deliver for customers and clients as well as shareholders.”