St James's Place Regulatory News (STJ)

29 Apr 2008 07:00

St. James's Place PLC29 April 2008 ST. JAMES'S PLACE plc 27 St. James's Place, London SW1A 1NR Telephone 020 7493 8111 Facsimile 020 7493 2382 PRESS RELEASE 29 April 2008 ST. JAMES'S PLACE WEALTH MANAGEMENT INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT FOR THREE MONTHS TO 31 MARCH 2008 TOTAL SINGLE INVESTMENTS REMAIN STRONG AT £759 MILLION St. James's Place plc ("SJP"), the wealth management group, today issues itsinterim management statement for the three months ended 31 March 2008. Highlights for the three months are: • New total single investments at £759 million in line with 2007 • Pension single investments of £252 million up 8% • Funds under management at £17.2 billion down 5% since the start of the year and up 6% over the last twelve months • Total new business (on an annual premium equivalent) of £98.7 million up 1% Mike Wilson, Chairman, commented: "We are very pleased that, despite challenging market conditions, new businessis ahead of the same period last year, which was itself up 41% on the prioryear. "We are confident that we will increase our market share in the current year andour new business target remains 15-20% over the longer term. "Last week St. James's Place won the Financial Times and Investors ChronicleWealth Manager of the Year Award, having won The Daily Telegraph Wealth Managerof the Year Award last year. Both awards are a tribute to the quality of the St.James's Place Partnership." The details of the announcement are attached. Enquiries: Mike Wilson Chairman Tel: 020 7514 1907 Anita Scott Brunswick Tel: 020 7404 5959Anna Jones Commentary During the first quarter of 2008 we have seen a continuation of the creditcrisis witnessed in the later part of 2007, continued volatile world stockmarkets and growing concerns about a global downturn. We always viewed the first quarter of 2008 as challenging due to the 41% growthachieved in the corresponding period last year. Given these factors we are very pleased to have achieved growth in overallbusiness which demonstrates the resilience of the St. James's Place Partnership. Review of new business Pension investments increased by 8% across both regular and single investmentsas clients continue to invest for their long term future and to utilise the taxadvantages to pension savings. Investment bond business at £349 million remained strong and in line with lastyear whilst unit trust sales were down by 11% to £158 million. Finally protection business, which represents less than 5% of the total APE, wassome 6% lower than the corresponding quarter last year, partly as a result ofthe slowing housing market. Funds under management Despite global markets having fallen around 10% over the first quarter, fundsunder management at 31 March 2008 were £17.2 billion, down only 5% over the sameperiod, and up 6% over the last twelve months. The table below provides an analysis of the movement in funds under managementduring the quarter. Unaudited 3 Months to 31 March 2008 £'bn Opening funds under management 18.2New money invested 0.7Net investment return (1.4) 17.5 Regular income withdrawals & maturities (0.1)Surrenders & part surrenders (0.2) Closing funds under management 17.2 Annualised surrender rate as a % of average funds under management 5.0% Capital There have been no material changes to capital during the first quarter. Theinvestment policy for the surplus assets remains on a prudent basis, which hasimmunised the capital base from both stock market falls and credit write downs. Outlook We are confident we will increase our market share in the current year despitethe more challenging market conditions and are also confident of achievingstrong growth in the size of the Partnership for the third consecutive year. Our new business growth target remains 15-20% per annum over the longer term. ST. JAMES'S PLACE GROUP NEW BUSINESS FIGURES FIRST QUARTER 2008 LONG TERM SAVINGS Unaudited 3 Months to 31 March 2008 NEW PREMIUMS 2008 2007 Change £'m £'m %New Regular Premiums Pensions 18.3 17.0 8% Protection 4.5 4.8 (6%) 22.8 21.8 5%New Single Premiums Investment 349.2 350.8 0% Pensions 251.8 232.3 8% 601.0 583.1 3% Unit Trust Sales 158.2 177.2 (11%)(including PEPs and ISAs) NEW BUSINESS 2008 2007 Change (RP + 1/10th SP) £'m £'m % Investment 50.7 52.8 (4%)Pensions 43.5 40.2 8%Protection 4.5 4.8 (6%) Total 98.7 97.8 1% ST. JAMES'S PLACE GROUP NEW BUSINESS FIGURES FIRST QUARTER 2008 Notes 1. New business from long term savings is calculated in accordance with the standard industry measure of adding together new regular premiums and one-tenth of single premiums and unit trust sales ('APE'). 2. Sales of manufactured business on an APE basis for the three months was 85% of the total reported (2007: 89%). Sales of non-manufactured pensions including stakeholder by St. James's Place Partnership have been included in the reported figures under Pensions. These amount to £5.2 million new regular premiums (2007: £4.1 million) and £5.6 million single premiums (2007: £6.2 million) for the three months to 31 March 2008. This equates to £5.8 million new business premiums (2007: £4.7 million). Sales of annuities by St. James's Place Partnership have been included in the reported figures under Pensions. These amount to £18.3 million single premiums (2007: £15.7 million) for the three months to 31 March 2008 and equate to £1.8 million new business premiums (2007: £1.6 million). Sales of protection business by St. James's Place Partnership through a panel of providers have been included in the reported figures under New Regular Premium Protection. These amount to £2.7 million of new regular premiums (2007: £2.8 million) for the three months to 31 March 2008. This equates to £2.7 million new business premiums (2007: £2.8 million). Sales of non-manufactured single premium investment business amounting to £40.7 million (2007: £16.5 million) have been included in the figures under investments for the three months to 31 March 2008. This equates to £4.1 million new business premiums (2007: £1.6 million). 3. Gross fees generated from other wealth management services amounted to £6.2 million for the three months to 31 March 2008 (2007: £7.9 million). This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange