Rates 'lower for longer' boost Standard Life Q3 net inflows

* Q3 net inflows 2.4 bln stg

* Assets under administration rise 2 pct to 302 bln stg

* Considering IPO of India joint venture (Adds CEO, CFO comment, background, share price, India IPO plans)

By Carolyn Cohn

LONDON, Oct (HKSE: 3366-OL.HK - news) 28 (Reuters) - British insurer and asset manager Standard Life (LSE: SL.L - news) reported strong net inflows for the third quarter on Wednesday as investors looked to increase returns against a backdrop of low interest rates and volatile markets.

Standard Life has been switching its focus from insurance products such as annuities to "fee-based" business such as more flexible drawdown pensions and its asset management arm.

Falling stock markets and a slowdown in Chinese growth have hit global investment returns this year.

"Horizons are short, people are uncertain, but I don't detect any sense of panic or crisis," Chief Executive Keith Skeoch told reporters on a conference call.

"People are thinking about the composition of their portfolios in a regime where growth is slow, inflation is very low and therefore interest rates are lower for longer."

Third-quarter net inflows of 2.4 billion pounds ($3.67 billion) beat analysts' expectations while assets under administration rose 2 percent in the first nine months to 302 billion pounds.

JP Morgan analysts had expected group net inflows of 900 million pounds for the quarter, while Panmure Gordon forecast net inflows of 1.1 billion.

Analysts at JP Morgan reiterated their overweight rating on the stock, calling the flows data "a solid set of numbers ...with beats across the board".

The strong flows data follows similar results for other UK asset managers such as St James's Place and Hargreaves Lansdown, helped by new pensions freedoms which allow greater flexibility in investment.

Standard Life's shares were up 1 percent to 423 pence per share at 0806 GMT, making it one of the top performers in a steady FTSE 100 index.

Luke Savage, Standard Life's chief financial officer, said on the conference call that Standard Life was planning an initial public offering of its Indian joint venture insurance business with HDFC.

"That is the route we will be looking to take," he said.

Standard Life is raising its stake in the joint venture to 35 percent from 26 percent.

The stake increase follows a change in rules allowing greater foreign ownership of Indian insurers.

($1 = 0.6533 pounds) (Reporting by Carolyn Cohn; editing by Sinead Cruise and Jason Neely)