Standard Life boss warns of choppy times

THE boss of Standard Life warned that global markets will remain ‘choppy’ as the company posted better-than-expected profits.

Following weeks of wild swings in the price of shares, commodities and other assets, the insurer’s chief executive Keith Skeoch warned of further volatility in the weeks ahead. But he predicted that the markets ‘will finish the year higher than they are today’.

Skeoch said: ‘I think markets are driven by geopolitics – that means they probably remain choppy for a while yet. If you can afford to take a three- to five-year view, some of those equity markets represent very, very good value, but they are not at the point yet to be a screaming buy.’

Standard Life, Europe’s biggest life assurance firm, has been refocusing its business away from insurance, which required it to hold large capital reserves as a back-up, towards asset management which pays a flat-rate fee.

It posted a 9pc rise in profit to £665m for 2015 and proposed a dividend for the year of 18.36p a share, up 7.8pc. Assets under management rose 4pc to £307.4bn while fee-based revenues were up 10pc to £1.5bn. Shares rose 2p to 328p.

Standard Life also used its fullyear update to campaign for Britain staying in the EU. Skeoch said: ‘I happen to believe that it would be in the best interests of our customers and clients.’

He previously took a strong stance when wading into the debate on the Scottish referendum and said that Standard Life had made contingency plans for a possible Brexit.

‘As far as Brexit, we continually plan ahead for a whole host of contingencies and obviously this has been on our radar for some time,’ he said. ‘If the people decide that actually it is Brexit, we are a global business. We will be well prepared and we will make sure that we remain in a very good place to serve clients and customers.’