To get the thread rolling on this stock - of those people who had windfalls, or ahve invested in the stock at flotation or since - it would be interesting to know what your thoughts are.

For those that were and are eligible for the 5% discount this time next year (+ the dividends beforehand), are you planning to sell at this level or hold. Are others buying at this price?

My own money is that the 5% share top up next year together with a divi of perhaps 4% (on flotation price) makes these shares a hold - and if enough other shareholders feel the same it is likely that there will not be much stock for others to purchase and the price will hopefully rise further. But what are the thoughts of others?

Held on to the freebe's and reinvested the divi to offset the shortfall on the endowment policy due to pay out August. Seems to have been a rare good move!! Mind you lets see what crumbs they throw the endowments way,very little if any I would say.

Interim Management Statement

Strong sales and record Group assets under administration

Strong growth in sales and Group assets under administration
· Group assets under administration (AUA) of £233.1bn up 7% (FY 2012: £218.1bn; Q1 2012: £206.8bn) driven by improved flows and positive market movements
· Record quarterly PVNBP long-term savings new business sales of £6.3bn up 24% (Q1 2012: £5.0bn)
· Long-term savings net flows up 26% to £1.4bn1 (Q1 2012: £1.1bn1)
· Group AUA net flows of £2.8bn (Q1 2012: £1.1bn)

Standard Life Investments delivers record gross inflows and strong net flows
· Standard Life Investments third party net inflows up 161% to £3.0bn1 (Q1 2012: £1.1bn1) representing annualised 14% of opening third party assets under management (AUM)
· Standard Life Investments third party AUM up 9% to £90.4bn (FY 2012: £83.0bn; Q1 2012: £76.1bn)
· Investing to diversify asset mix, including further growth in the emerging markets team, and expanding geographic reach

Group operational highlights
· Delivered a smooth transition for our customers through the Retail Distribution Review
· Early auto enrolment experience is encouraging with lower than anticipated opt outs and higher contribution rates
· Significantly increased corporate pension processing capacity
· MyFolio Income range won the 'Best New Fund Launch' award at the Professional Adviser awards with MyFolio AUM up 23% to £2.8bn (FY 2012: £2.2bn)

Strong balance sheet
· Estimated IGD surplus of £4.2bn (FY 2012: £4.1bn; Q1 2012: £3.1bn), before the payment of final and special dividends totalling £0.5bn, remains relatively insensitive to market movements

Credit Suisse Underperform 375.15 325.00 325.00 Reiterates

Investec Buy 375.15 373.00 373.00 Retains

Deutsche Bank Buy 0.00 380.70 360.00 410.00 Upgrade

HB Markets Hold 388.65 - - Downgrades

JP Morgan Cazenove Overweight 388.65 380.00 380.00 Reiterates

Board Change


The Board of Standard Life plc announces that Jackie Hunt has resigned with immediate effect as Chief Financial Officer and as a Board director. She will take up the position of CEO, Prudential UK & Europe. A search for her replacement has begun and during the period of the search, the current reporting lines to this position will be temporarily reassigned.

David Nish, Chief Executive Officer, said 'I'd like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the Board, to thank Jackie for her commitment and the contribution that she has made to the business during the last four years. I wish her well in her first CEO role'.

Following this change, the Board of Standard Life plc will comprise two executive directors, eight non-executive directors and the Chairman.

Half Year Results 2013 part 1 of 5

Record flows driving strong growth in revenue

Record long-term savings new business sales and Group net inflows
· Group assets under administration of £232.8bn (FY 2012: £218.1bn) and Group net flows of £6.5bn (H1 2012: £0.7bn)
· Long-term savings new business sales of £12.2bn (H1 2012: £10.1bn)
· Long-term savings net inflows of £2.5bn1 (H1 2012: £1.6bn1) including gross inflows of £11.8bn1 (H1 2012: £10.2bn1)
· Standard Life Investments third party net inflows of £7.1bn1 (H1 2012: £0.6bn1) of which 51% from outside UK
· Standard Life Investments third party assets under management (AUM) of £93.4bn (FY 2012: £83.0bn)

Strong growth in fee based revenue driving Group operating profit performance
· Fee based revenue increased by 14% to £694m (H1 2012: £610m)
· Lower unit costs with acquisition costs of 130bps (FY 2012: 156bps) and maintenance costs of 41bps (FY 2012: 45bps)
· Operating profit2 before tax up 6% to £304m (H1 2012: £286m3) including
· 28% increase in UK operating profit with strong momentum in both our retail and corporate businesses
· 37% increase in Standard Life Investments operating profit with excellent investment performance and exceptionally strong net inflows
· £14m increase in financing costs from debt issued in H2 2012 at attractive interest rates
· IFRS profit after tax attributable to equity holders of £129m (H1 2012: £238m3) reflecting the expected increase in the tax charge and impact of rising yields on debt securities
Continued strong balance sheet
· EEV operating capital and cash generation of £231m (H1 2012: £279m3) reflects a lower back book management contribution in the period
· IGD surplus of £3.7bn (FY 2012: £4.1bn), following the payment of the 2012 final and special dividends of £532m, remains relatively insensitive to market movements
Progressive interim dividend up 6.5%
· Interim dividend up 6.5% to 5.22p (H1 2012: 4.90p)

30+p turn this morning for the brave!

Interim Management Statement

Increase in Group AUA driving 15% growth in fee based revenue

· Group assets under administration (AUA) increased by 9% to £237.6bn (FY 2012: £218.1bn; Q3 2012: £211.9bn)
· Group AUA net inflows of £7.7bn1 (2012: £3.0bn)
· Fee based revenue increased by 15% to £1,059m (2012: £923m) in the first nine months of the year
Continuing strong growth in fee based propositions in our UK long-term savings business
· UK corporate pension AUA up 11% to £27.3bn (FY 2012: £24.5bn) with net flows in the quarter up 29%
o We have secured 195,000 new customers who will contribute to future growth in AUA
o Our pipeline of secured corporate business is strong with increased take-up of our investment solutions
· UK retail new AUA increased by 28% to £36.7bn (FY 2012: £28.7bn)
o Net inflows in the quarter 35% higher than Q3 2012
o Number of IFA users on our Wrap platform has increased by 20% to 5,056 (FY 2012: 4,206)
o Standard Life Wealth AUA increased by £3.2bn to £5.5bn following the acquisition of Newton Private Clients1
Standard Life Investments delivers record third party AUM and strong investment performance
· Third party AUM up 13% to £94.2bn (FY 2012: £83.0bn; Q3 2012: £78.8bn)
· Third party net inflows of £8.3bn2 (2012: £3.2bn2) including net inflows into our multi-asset solutions of £1.1bn in the quarter
· Investing to diversify asset mix, launching new products, and expanding geographic reach
· Strong investment performance with 87%, 89% and 91% of third party AUM above benchmark for one, three and five years respectively
Strong balance sheet
· Estimated IGD surplus of £3.7bn (HY 2013: £3.7bn; FY 2012: £4.1bn; Q3 2012: £3.4bn) following acquisition of Newton Private Clients

Take your pick!

J P Morgan Cazenove Overweight 354.05 430.00 430.00 Reiterates

Barclays Capital Underweight 354.05 - - Reiterates

Nomura Reduce 354.05 351.00 337.00 Reiterates

Deutsche Bank Buy 354.05 425.00 425.00 Retains

Approaching last Autumns high "W".

From yesterday :- JP Morgan Cazenove Overweight 369.65 430.00 - Reiterates

Credit Suisse Outperform 382.75 377.10 362.00 425.00 Upgrades

RBC Capital Markets Outperform 383.90 383.90 400.00 450.00 Upgrades

Interim Management Statement

Continued growth in assets and excellent investment performance
· Assets under administration up 1.5% to £247.8bn (31 December 2013: £244.2bn, 31 March 2013: £233.1bn) driven by net inflows of £2.4bn

· Ongoing momentum in fee business with fee revenue up 12% to £374m

· Continued excellent investment performance at Standard Life Investments

· Announced acquisition of Ignis Asset Management enhancing Standard Life Investments' strategic positioning

· Well positioned for changes announced in the UK Budget and other regulatory developments

· Strong balance sheet with an estimated IGD surplus of £3.9bn

Half Yearly Report - Part 1 of 5

Continuing delivery of growth and performance

· Strong operational performance with fee business revenue up 12%1 to £758m

· Assets under administration up 4% to £254.1bn, driven by strong net inflows of £4.6bn

· Business unit underlying performance* up 7% to £367m

· Operating profit2 before tax up 12% to £339m

· Acquisition of Ignis Asset Management enhances strategic positioning, and accelerates growth and returns for shareholders

· Strong balance sheet and cash3 generation up 8% to £250m

· Interim dividend up 7.3% per share to 5.60p

./

Displosal

Standard Life plc ("Standard Life" or the "Group") today announces the sale of its Canadian business, comprising Standard Life's Canadian long-term savings and retirement, individual and group insurance business (Standard Life Financial Inc.) and Canadian investment management business (Standard Life Investments Inc.), to The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company ("MLC"), a subsidiary of Manulife Financial Corporation ("Manulife") for a total cash consideration of C$4.0bn (equivalent to £2.2bn) at closing (the "Sale"). Standard Life's global asset management business, Standard Life Investments, has also entered into a global collaboration agreement with Manulife (the "Global Collaboration Agreement"). Following completion of the transaction, Standard Life expects to return £1.75bn (equivalent to 73p1 per share) of capital to shareholders by way of a B/C share scheme.

The Board intends to complete the return of capital by way of a B/C share scheme to give Standard Life shareholders based in the UK the flexibility to receive their proceeds as income or capital. Following the return of capital, Standard Life intends to carry out a share consolidation.

The Sale is another major step in furthering Standard Life's strategy to build a global investment solutions business, accelerating the growth profile of the Group through: focusing on its market-leading fee-based investment management and savings businesses; reducing Standard Life's exposure to spread/risk income; and advancing Standard Life Investments' global distribution and growth prospects through wider collaboration with Manulife. The Sale, the capital return and Standard Life Investments' strengthened relationship with Manulife are consistent with the Group's simple business model: increasing assets, maximising revenue and lowering unit costs while optimising the balance sheet.

Deutsche Bank Buy 386.10 386.10 428.00 455.00 Reiterates

Berenberg Hold 416.80 370.00 370.00 Reiterates

Panmure Gordon Buy 416.80 420.00 420.00 Reiterates

i've had these poxy shares since the outset and now cannot even remember how may of them i have .... anyway, a nice 73p extra divi will be very welcome

Standard Life reacts to possible Scottish independence

Standard Life's chief executive, David Nish, has written to the Scottish money manager's customers explaining how it will protect their interests in the event of Scots voting for independence.

He says that it could transfer pensions, investments and other long-term savings held by UK customers to new regulated companies set up in England.

Publication of Circular/Notice of General Meeting

Standard Life plc: Publication of Circular and Notice of General Meeting

Further to the announcement made on 4 September 2014, Standard Life plc ("the Company") has today published and sent to all shareholders a circular ("the Circular") in relation to the proposed sale of Standard Life's Canadian business ("the Disposal"). The Circular has been prepared in accordance with the Listing Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority and has been approved by the UK Listing Authority.

The Disposal is subject to the approval of shareholders, and, accordingly, the Circular contains a notice convening a General Meeting of the Company which is to be held at 2pm on 3 October 2014 at 155 Bishopsgate, London EC2.

A copy of the Circular and the Notice of General Meeting are available for viewing on the Company's website at www.standardlife.com.


Here is the link to the General Meeting & Circular details