Outflows dropped dramatically at Standard Life Aberdeen in the 2019 calendar year, but the firm still saw a sizeable £17.4bn leave the business, leading to a profit loss of 10 percent.
The outflows were on top of an expected one-off loss of £40.9bn assets as a result of the settlement with Lloyds Banking Group, relating to a tranche of assets withdrawn from Scottish Widows.
In 2018 investors had withdrawn more than £40bn.
The company had total assets under management of £544bn in 2019. Profit was 10 per cent lower at £584m, which the company attributed to lower income as a result of the outflows.
Costs were 4 per cent lower and the company stated it will embark on a “targeted” cost reduction programme in the future.
Commenting on the level of outflows, the company stated that the performance of its funds had improved, but there was a “time lag” until this would be reflected in the level of flows.
The platforms and financial advice businesses of Standard Life Aberdeen fared slightly better..
The financial adviser business trades as 1825. It had assets under advice of £5.7bn at the end of 2019, up £1.8bn boosted by acquisitions.
The firm saw two high profile acquisitions in the year with BDO Northern Ireland’s wealth management arm in March and Grant Thornton’s £1.7bn wealth advisory business in July.
The company has 110 financial planners. This business had revenue of £107m, up from £105m the previous year.
The platforms business had revenues of £150m, a 6 per cent increase on the previous year.
Net inflows into this business were £2.3bn. The Wrap and Elevate platforms had assets under administration of £62bn at the end of the year.
The company stated that it is taking action to manage the costs of these businesses.
david.thorpe@ft.com
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