GARS assets reach £17bn as Standard Life profit jumps

Operating profits at Standard Life UK rose by more than 60% in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2011, driven by an increase in fee revenues and lower acquisition costs.

The IFRS profit before tax figure of £141m compared to £87m recorded in the first six months of last year, and helped Standard Life group to an operating profit for the period of £302m, up 15% from £262m in 2011. At Standard Life Investments, an increase in fee-based revenue helped SLI improve marginally on its first-half performance in 2011, with the group's flagship Global Absolute Return Strategies product continuing to pull in assets. "Our GARS product range continues to grow strongly with assets exceeding £17bn. Our MyFolio fund range, launched in October 2010, has assets of appr...