It has been a rotten six months for the Standard Life Aberdeen share price but today the money manager was granted some respite.
Standard Life is best known for running Gars (Global Absolute Return Strategies fund), the mega fund which at its pomp looked after £50 billion in retail and institutional money.
The fund has underperformed over the past two years with investors pulling billions as financiers question if it has grown too large to allocate capital effectively.
But this session research from Citigroup said there was more to Standard Life than just Gars and urged investors to have another look at the stock.
Citi analysts said investors should not worry about Gars, adding that the firm is “undervalued”. It reiterated a Buy rating on the stock, highlighting its share buybacks, platform earnings and Indian business as reasons to be positive.
The analysts wrote that the “valuation is compelling, catalysts for re-rating have begun”. “[Investor] focus on Gars outflows disregards positive gross flows into the platforms business, and other multi-asset fund strategies.”
The shares were up 4.9p to 265.5p as the FTSE 100 made a recovery from yesterday’s steep losses, adding 14.21 points to 6969.62.
Broker notes were dominating play as Morgan Stanley launched a stinging attack on ITV.
Analyst Patrick Wellington slashed his target price to just 190p, citing weak advertising budgets from supermarkets and high street retailers. The X Factor and Strangers broadcaster relies heavily on ad money from these sectors.
He added the shift to digital advertising was also causing headaches for ITV: “It’s had good viewing figures in 2018 and yet ad growth looks as though it will end the year down. It reflects the structural shift of advertising away from TV.” The shares lost 2.4p to 150.8p.
Experian rose after the personal credit rating agency said it will gather people’s regular rent payments when creating individual credit ratings. The shares were up 9.5p to 1759.5p.
Fashion house Burberry rose after demand for Gucci handbags proved more resilient than expected in the third quarter. It was up 17.5p to 1688p.
