01 February 2008 / by None
Standard Life has seen a 20 per cent fall in life and pensions sales in the last quarter of 2007 because of unusual market conditions.
Sales were down some 14 per cent to £4.02 billion from £4.66 billion at the same time in 2006, reports IFA Online
However, 2007 in its entirety was relatively profitable for Standard Life with sales increasing 15 per cent from £11.44 billion to £13.17 billion, while worldwide life and pension sales increased to £16.31 billion, the report continue.
Commenting on their performance, Standard Life group chief executive Sandy Crombie commented: “We grew worldwide life and pensions sales by 12 per cent and Standard Life Investments continues to deliver strong growth, despite challenging market conditions in the second half of the year.”
He added that they intend to report the performance of all financial and efficiency targets in 2007 at the preliminary results on March 12th 2008.
Elsewhere, it has been reported that pension deficits could rise by up to £120 billion if proposed accounting rules are implemented, according to the Press Association.