Standard Life

BlackRock has warned of ‘major risks' to the UK and Scotland if Scots vote for independence in September's planned referendum.

Standard Life has tabled a reported £400m bid for Ignis Asset Management.

Standard Life has opened up its retirement product range to customers with a smaller pot of pensions savings, a day after the Chancellor's pension reforms triggered a sell-off among life insurers.

THE BIG QUESTION

Standard Life Investments has soft-launched a more aggressive version of its £20bn Global Absolute Return Strategies (GARS) fund and will roll it out widely in the next few months.

The Standard Life wrap is launching a third party discretionary fund management (DFM) service for advisers.

COMMENT

Major UK financials were in the doldrums today, with both Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Life sharply lower in early trading following updates from the businesses.

Insurer and asset manager Standard Life reported a 13% dip in pre-tax profits for 2013, despite strong inflows.

Standard Life has put contingency plans in place to relocate its operations should Scotland vote for independence.