Skip to main content [Access key C]Jump to the top navigation [Access key T]Jump to the local navigation [Access key L]Jump to the search [Access key S]Jump to the sitemap [Access key M]Jump to the homepage [Access key H]
Standard Life plc - Annual Report and Accounts 2007
Home The Group
at a Glance		 Business
Review		 Corporate
Responsibility		 Governance
Information		 Financial
Statements

Investment management - Customers, employees and looking ahead

Customers

We have continued to improve our level of customer service throughout 2007. High quality support by our client service teams, combined with strong investment performance from our fund management teams, have been recognised with a record 13 awards during the year, including:

  • Citywire Team All Stars Asset Group Winner - UK Equities and Citywire Team All Stars Sector Winner - UK All Companies at the Citywire Team All Stars Awards 2007
  • 5-Star Award in the Investment Provider & Packager category at the FTAdviser Online Service Awards 2007
  • Active UK Equity Manager of the Year title at the Pension & Investment Provider Awards (PIPA) 2007
  • Investment Manager of the Year and Specialist Manager of the Year (UK Equities) at the UK Pensions Awards 2007
  • Best Overall Group Awards at the Lipper Fund Awards 2007 in the Equity Large and UK Equity Large categories, and
  • UK Asset Management Firm of the Year award at the Financial News Awards for Excellence in Institutional Asset Management - Europe 2007.

Employees

The business and its related infrastructure have continued to grow throughout 2007. The average number of full time equivalent staff rose 3.4% from 705 to 729 as we expanded our capability in new product areas and customer service. We believe we have one of the most talented teams in the UK fund management industry. Our employee engagement levels remain high at 3.9 out of 5, as assessed by our latest Gallup survey. Our sales of new mandates, our strong investment performance across equities, bonds, property and private equity, our high levels of customer service, our tightly run infrastructure and the record number of awards won all bear testament to the quality of this team.

Looking ahead

In 2008 we will continue our strategy to increase diversity in our sources of revenue through increased sales of our capability in Global equities, Global property and Absolute return strategies. We continue to see a good volume of 'Requests for Proposals' and our pipeline of confirmed third party new business remains strong, driven substantially by Institutional funds. It is likely that the first half of 2008 will be challenging for all players in the industry but we remain confident of delivering further growth in the year to come.