Standard Life’s UK operating profits were up 28 per cent for the first half of 2013 to £161m, with the Retail Distribution Review being cited as the provider revealed is doing business again with hundreds of advisers that had not dealt with the firm “for several years”.
The Edinburgh-based provider’s results showed during the second quarter of 2013 net flows into new style propositions was up 31 per cent compared to the same period in 2012 at £0.9bn.
Platform assets under administration were up 33 per cent to £16.8bn, with wrap AUA up 40 per cent to £14.2bn. Sipp customers were up 15 per cent, with AUA up 19 per cent to £21.5bn.
Paul Matthews, chief executive of UK and Europe for Standard Life, said the providers results showed it had “capitalised” on the investments made in preparing for the RDR.
He said Standard Life had seen a smooth transition to RDR, with 77 per cent of it’s wrap partners now using adviser charging. He also revealed the business was now dealing again with 342 advisers it had not dealt with for several years.
Mr Matthews said: “We were well prepared for the regulatory changes introduced over the last year in the UK and we are starting to see the results we anticipated.
“Our strategy and high quality propositions continue to address the needs of our customers, advisers and employers, with increasing momentum in both our retail and corporate businesses.
“The Retail Distribution Review has played to the strengths of the advisers we do business with and we have also been able to open our doors to a broader range of advisers.
“We have successfully implemented auto-enrolment across 51 schemes, and we’ve got one of the strongest pipelines of corporate business we’ve ever seen.
“Overall, Standard Life’s UK business continues to perform very well and we remain excited about the opportunities we see in the year ahead.”
