FSA blustering cost Standard Life £800m - papers 7 February

clock

FSA action to beef up the financial stability of Standard Life forced the company to sell some £7.5bn worth of equities a year ago that would have brought a profit of £800m to with-profits policyholders because of stock market gains, The Scotsman writes.

The calculation excludes dividend reinvestments, and is based on the reduction in equities as a proportion of the with-profits fund to the current 35% from the previous 59%. ”Ironically, investors who stayed with a straightforward UK equity fund over the last year would be showing a big gain. Even if they opted for a standard FTSE100 tracker fund, they would now be showing a gain of some 10 per cent, or upwards of 13 per cent with dividend income re-invested,” the paper adds. Unfortunately, with the company looking to demutualise it is hardly in a position to launch any legal action a...

To continue reading this article...

Join Professional Adviser for free

  • Unlimited access to real-time news, industry insights and market intelligence
  • Stay ahead of the curve with spotlights on emerging trends and technologies
  • Receive breaking news stories straight to your inbox in the daily newsletters
  • Make smart business decisions with the latest developments in regulation, investing retirement and protection
  • Members-only access to the editor’s weekly Friday commentary
  • Be the first to hear about our events and awards programmes

Join

 

Already a Professional Adviser member?

Login

More on uncategorised

Building Society-owned Newcastle Financial Advisers acquires Openwork firm

First of a number of acquisitions

Hannah Godfrey
clock 09 December 2019 • 1 min read

Bond managers fear hedges being undermined as liquidity dries up

The recent sell off in the bond market and growing liquidity issues have forced bond investors to use similar hedging techniques, undermining their effectiveness and causing concerns about how much downside protection funds really have.

Anna Fedorova
clock 03 July 2013 •

Police launch investigation into mortgage middleman fined £1m

West Midlands Police have launched a fraud investigation into a Birmingham financier over his role in sale and rent back agreements.

clock 25 June 2013 •