Standard Life Q1 sales up 30 pct, beat forecasts The FINANCIAL
29.04.10
We continue to see good growth in our individual SIPP customer base and assets under administration. The number of customer accounts increased by 5,900 or 7% during the quarter to 89,800 (31 December 2009: 83,900). SIPP assets under administration were 9% higher at Ј12.8bn (31 December 2009: Ј11.8bn)2. As expected, customers are increasingly using the flexible features within the product such as tax free cash and drawdown as our SIPP business grows and matures. In addition, we have seen a short-term increase in activity levels across our individual SIPP, individual pension and corporate pension product lines as some customers took benefits ahead of the minimum retirement age increasing from 50 to 55 in April 2010. These increases in outflows in individual SIPP have been more than offset by gross inflows of Ј1.0bn from higher sales volumes, with net inflows 28% higher at Ј566m (2009: Ј441m). In February 2010 we broadened the reach of our individual pension proposition with the launch of Active Money Personal Pension. We have seen encouraging customer interest with over 1,000 new customers now secured since its launch.
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