Standard Life Aberdeen Share Discussion Threads

[snorky123] 23/8/2019 08:37

I should add my concerns are things like is the div sustainable and the recent results were not very encouraging

[snorky123] 23/8/2019 08:25

Hi guys I am a former holder and currently hold Aviva, Phoenix etc and looking to purchase SLA as the div is so compelling. Would like any feedback good or bad as to my possible purchase. Thanks

[spud] 22/8/2019 14:05

Improves EPS, nothing else (aside from Director Bonus). spud

[fionascott1234] 22/8/2019 13:55

It never has worked and it never will. A complete and utter waste of money!

[lippy4] 22/8/2019 13:44

they are returning money to us by buying shares,well it does not seem to be working.

might as well give us the cash..

[fionascott1234] 22/8/2019 13:29

Standard Life Aberdeen is working through its problems - MILES COSTELLO, Tempus of the Times.The stock market is again losing confidence in the troubled merger project that is Standard Life Aberdeen. After a brief recovery that began in the middle of December, the fund management group's share price has been back in the doldrums since July, despite signs that it is beginning to work through its problems.At the company's half-year results this month, for example, there was finally a reduction in the net amount of customer money that was being withdrawn, down to £15.9 billion, from £16.9 billion before. Respectable amounts of new funds, £36.5 billion, came in during the six months to the end of June and profits fell no more rapidly than those of its market rivals. Yet the group's shares continued to fall.Standard Life Aberdeen was created from a merger in 2017, bringing together Aberdeen Asset Management, an acquisitive and entrepreneurial operation created in 1983, and Standard Life, a more conservative former mutual that traces its history back to 1825. The logic was clear. Against a backdrop of fierce competition and a move among investors into low-cost, passive funds, the enlarged group would be more diversified, offering investment products from equity funds to bonds, property to private equity, and would benefit from economies of scale.Yet customers pulled their money in droves, in part, it has to be said, driven by underperformance. Funds under management totalled £670 billion at the time of the merger, but have since fallen to £577.5 billion (though in a further favourable sign that is £26 billion higher than at the end of December).There are plenty of reasons, however, to be confident that Standard Life Aberdeen is working through its problems. Investment peformance is returning: at the end of last year only 50 per cent of its assets were beating their benchmark over three years; now 65 per cent are ahead. Albeit large, the outflows are confined to the same offenders - low-margin insurance funds, the Global Absolute Return Strategies Fund and emerging market and Asia Pacific equities. The vast majority of inflows are into less traditional products, including debt funds and private equity.The group has resolved its legal spat with Lloyds Banking Group, which moved to reallocate £109 billion of assets in the wake of the merger, arguing that it had created a competitor. Under the terms of an agreement reached in July, Lloyds agreed to pay £140 million in compensation for withdrawing the money, £35 billion of which Standard Life Aberdeen will retain until the end of the existing contract in April 2022.Crucially, the dividend - which is only just covered by earnings - has been held and last week the group began the process of buying back £200 million of its shares as part of a programme that will return £750 million to shareholders.Yet, at £5.74 billion, Standard Life Aberdeen's valuation is close to rock bottom. It has three strategic stakes, in an India-based life insurance and asset manager and in Phoenix Holdings, the life funds consolidator, which together are valued at £5.2 billion. Strip these out and this implies a valuation for the core fund management operations of only £540 million.The shares, up ¾p, or 0.3 per cent, to 240¼p yesterday, have lost a quarter of their value in the past year and are below their 244p in December when this column recommended buying them. Standard Life Aberdeen is trading at a mere 12.1 times forecasted earnings and has a yield of 8.6 per cent. That feels like ample compensation for the time it has taken for the merger to come good.ADVICE BuyWHY Very cheap valuation that is way below rivals amid strong signs that the merger is beginning to work.

[mcunliffe1] 22/8/2019 13:15

I see £1.6m of OUR money was spent yesterday by SLA in the purchase of shares at an average of £2.40 a share (£2.38 - £2.42 was the range of purchases.

Whilst this continues I suspect the share price will climb slightly and those wishing to exit will then find a willing buyer.

When all the money has been spent I suspect that without some REAL action on the part of SLA the tren in the S.P. will be inevitably downwards again.

[mcunliffe1] 21/8/2019 23:21

C.I.
Real news and insight would be appreciated.

I COULD say, 1p to go to 243.5p but it would be both pointless and wrong.

[chinese investor] 21/8/2019 11:26

78p to go to 320p !

[chinese investor] 21/8/2019 09:45

79p to go to 320p !

[ramellous] 21/8/2019 09:00

Let’s stay down here while the buybacks are ongoing.

[chinese investor] 21/8/2019 08:39

80p to go to 320p !

[chinese investor] 19/8/2019 07:52

A judge refused on Friday to approve a £11.2 billion ($13.6 billion) deal to transfer more than 365,000 Prudential annuity policies to an insurance company started in 2007, saying it was “entirely reasonable” that policyholders would prefer the longer-established company.

[topvest] 17/8/2019 18:16

Hopefully their investment style will come back into favour after a decade being out of favour. I think it will. It’s time for this investment manager to start out performing the Baillie Gifford growth style which is in serious bubble territory.

[wilksey1] 16/8/2019 08:04

looks like the share back starts today,,

[joshuam] 14/8/2019 21:05

Would love to average down MC but I’m staying in cash, cash is king. sold a few last week still like this share agree not sure about management

[mcunliffe1] 14/8/2019 08:53

joshuam,

"Cash is King". ??

In the current climate cash earns nothing and loses value quickly through both inflation and a devaluing pound. Gold seems a better prospect.

But, consider your statement in the context of an Investment Company. I've said it so often, if SLA cannot find better uses for any cash it holds how the hell are investors supposed to have confidence. That's perhaps partly why net outflows of aum are so high.

I might be adding to their woes soon as I'm keeping a close eye on the funds I'm invested in (that carry no guarantees). My piddling amounts will not faze them, but a few hundred thousand like me cwertainly will.

I the the Standard has always been poor on communication with its customers. It needs to improve that aspect. And Quickly.

[joshuam] 14/8/2019 08:00

Cash is king

[chinese investor] 14/8/2019 07:37

The Indian Shares were sold for £374 million net of taxes and expenses.

The Shares sold were 3.33% of HDFC Life and the remaining shareholding in HDFC Life is now 19.69% - £2.3 billion.

Extract from the Bloomberg article :-
"the 2.8 billion pounds it owns of HDFC Life" !

Doesn't look good !

[joshuam] 14/8/2019 07:20

Good news ?

[lippy4] 13/8/2019 22:57

taking on aberdeen seems to be a disaster and going down hill,why did they do it,for their own pockets as it has done nothing to we long time investors..

[chinese investor] 13/8/2019 20:54

Asset managers face “tough industry conditions with flows difficult to come by and fees under pressure,” says Standard Life Aberdeen Plc Chief Executive Officer Keith Skeoch.

He’s not wrong; but competitors are weathering the ongoing storm far, far better than his firm is this year.

SLA’s performance this year is dismal, with its shares languishing at their lowest level since March.

Last week Skeoch made his first solo outing at the top of the greasy pole, unveiling the company’s first-half performance five months after Martin Gilbert was moved to the vice chairman role following a couple of years as co-CEO of the firm he and Skeoch created in a merger.

The numbers didn’t look good.

With 577.5 billion pounds ($700 billion) of assets under management at mid-year, it isn’t just the declining pound that’s prevented SLA from joining the $1 trillion club.

Net outflows in the first six months of the year were 15.9 billion pounds; in the past two years, clients have pulled more than 87 billion pounds from the firm.

The merger has turned out to be more of a distraction than a savior.

It’s not a good look when, a few minutes into your earnings conference call with analysts, you’re touting the recent appointment of a new head of human resources as one of the key leadership changes that will steady the ship.

Asked on a media call on Wednesday about low morale at the company, Skeoch acknowledged that merging two different cultures has not been easy.

“It’s something we take seriously and we’re working really hard at.”

Lackluster performance by SLA’s portfolio managers has taken its toll on customer appetite for its funds.

By the end of June, 47% of the assets managed by the firm were trailing their benchmarks on a one-year basis.

While that’s an improvement on the 53% that were underperforming at the end of last year, it’s not exactly going to help the sales force when pitching to customers, even though the three-year performance improved to 65% of assets beating their benchmark.

The most significant number associated with SLA, though, may be its market capitalization.

At a smidgen over 6 billion pounds, its core business is valued at just 800 million pounds once you discount what it calculates are its 900 million pound stake in Phoenix Group Holdings Plc, the 1.5 billion pounds it has invested in HDFC Asset Management Co. and the 2.8 billion pounds it owns of HDFC Life Insurance Co.

The first stake arose from SLA’s February 2018 decision to sell its insurance business to Phoenix.

SLA views it as a strategic holding, along with its 30% ownership of India’s HDFC Asset Management.

But the latter has to increase its publicly-traded float to a minimum of 25% in the next two years, up from about 14% currently; SLA says it is likely to participate in that process.

The 23% holding in India’s HDFC Life is deemed non-strategic and has already been reduced by more than 6% by sales earlier in the year (although SLA says it’s obliged to hold 9 percentage points until March 2021).

So let’s indulge in a game of fantasy M&A.

Even at its reduced market capitalization of 6 billion pounds – down from almost 10 billion pounds a year ago – SLA would be a mouthful for even the most cash-rich of private equity buyers, especially after building in a takeover premium.

But there’s 5.2 billion pounds ($6.3 billion) worth of publicly-traded assets on the balance sheet.

And while it would take time to find buyers for those shares, it isn’t too much of a stretch to envisage a couple of private equity firms viewing SLA as a break-up candidate and teaming up to dismember the firm.

Skeoch said last week that he’ll “remain focused on ensuring that we unlock the value of the assets on the balance sheet.”

If he doesn’t get a wiggle on, he may find that others are more than willing to take SLA off the market and liberate those stakes for themselves.

[spud] 13/8/2019 19:45

As I said previously, buy the devaluation and await the absorption:'But there's 5.2 billion pounds ($6.3 billion) worth of publicly-traded assets on the balance sheet. And while it would take time to find buyers for those shares, it isn't too much of a stretch to envisage a couple of private equity firms viewing SLA as a break-up candidate and teaming up to dismember the firm.Skeoch said last week that he'll "remain focused on ensuring that we unlock the value of the assets on the balance sheet." If he doesn't get a wiggle on, he may find that others are more than willing to take SLA off the market and liberate those stakes for themselves.'spud

[fionascott1234] 13/8/2019 18:59

OUCH - BLOOMBERG DOESN'T HOLD OUT MUCH HOPE https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-08-13/standard-life-aberdeen-lags-far-behind-rival-asset-managers