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| Budget should include stimulus package, says £545bn fund manager | Budget should include stimulus package, says £545bn fund manager |
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| Standard Life Aberdeen urges help for small and medium-sized firms hit by coronavirus | Standard Life Aberdeen urges help for small and medium-sized firms hit by coronavirus |
| The chancellor must use the budget on Wednesday to announce an emergency stimulus package to help the economy cope with the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, according to one of Britain’s biggest investment companies. | The chancellor must use the budget on Wednesday to announce an emergency stimulus package to help the economy cope with the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, according to one of Britain’s biggest investment companies. |
| The Edinburgh-based fund manager Standard Life Aberdeen, which manages £545bn of assets, urged Rishi Sunak to pledge support for small and medium-sized businesses to help them survive cashflow problems. | |
| Keith Skeoch, the Standard Life chief executive, said the sell-off in global stock markets – which recorded their biggest losses since the 2008 financial crisis on Monday – reflected “pure panic” among investors about a coronavirus-driven economic downturn and an oil price war. | Keith Skeoch, the Standard Life chief executive, said the sell-off in global stock markets – which recorded their biggest losses since the 2008 financial crisis on Monday – reflected “pure panic” among investors about a coronavirus-driven economic downturn and an oil price war. |
| “Asset prices are suggesting that a global recession is around the corner,” he said, but if the west manages to contain the outbreak in a similar manner to China, there could be a short sharp economic downturn followed by a recovery in six months’ time. | “Asset prices are suggesting that a global recession is around the corner,” he said, but if the west manages to contain the outbreak in a similar manner to China, there could be a short sharp economic downturn followed by a recovery in six months’ time. |
| “The chancellor tomorrow has a splendid opportunity to put in place a significant fiscal stimulus without the risk of inflation,” Skeoch said. | |
| As coronavirus spreads, Standard Life has suspended all international travel for its staff. Its employees in Asia Pacific have been split into “red” and “blue” teams, with some working from home and others working in the office, and the firm is planning to extend this to the UK and the US in the coming weeks. | |
| The company was formed in 2017 when the Scottish insurer Standard Life merged with Aberdeen Asset Management. Fee-based revenues fell 13% to £1.6bn last year because of fund outflows of £17.4bn. Pre-tax profits dropped by 10% to £584m. | |
| Separately, M&G, a rival fund manager that was spun off from Prudential last year, said further market turbulence “could have an impact on our capital strength”. | |
| It said the steep losses in global markets in recent weeks had knocked 10 percentage points off its solvency ratio, a key measure of its capital strength, to 166%. A level above 100% indicates insurers have enough capital, although regulators usually want to see a higher number. | It said the steep losses in global markets in recent weeks had knocked 10 percentage points off its solvency ratio, a key measure of its capital strength, to 166%. A level above 100% indicates insurers have enough capital, although regulators usually want to see a higher number. |