Yahoo Finance What does the Aberdeen deal mean for Standard Life's 1.2m shareholders?
Standard Life has 1.2 million individual shareholders on its register, most of whom collected their shares in 2006 when the giant insurer demutualised.
Shares at the time were priced at 230p, and the average Standard Life with-profits policyholder received 641, worth £1,474.
Today, following a boost from the merger announcement, the shares trade at 389p. An average policyholder who has held onto their shares would have windfall worth £2,493.
Under the proposed terms of the merger with Aberdeen, Standard Life shareholders will own approximately two thirds of the new combined group.
Existing Standard Life shareholders keep their shares. In theory the transaction itself should mean they are not better or worse off: but if the board has got it right, shareholders' prospects of future growth and dividends should be enhanced.
Standard Life shareholders will receive a final dividend of 13.35p per share for the last six months of 2016, to be paid on May 23.
They will also get to vote on the deal, with voting packs being sent in early May.
What it means for investors in both companies’ popular funds
Both groups offer a range of funds, many of which are popular with Isa and pension savers and widely recommended by financial advisers.
Standard Life’s main focus as an investment house is on the UK and Europe. Popular funds include UK Smaller Companies and UK Equity Income Unconstrained.
Recently, another highly popular fund, Standard Life Global Absolute Return Strategies, has suffered large outflows and negative publicity. This has been due to poor performance: the portfolio fell by 3pc in 2016, for instance, when the FTSE 100 rose by 19pc.
But at £26bn the GARS fund is still Britain's biggest portfolio and widely owned.
Senior portfolio manager Roger Sadewsky told the Telegraph in January that 2016 had been “disappointing”. The team had failed to anticipate significant trends and events including the Brexit vote and US election result, he admitted.
Other popular Standard Life funds include its “Myfolio” range of ready-made portfolios, which contain over £10bn in total.
Aberdeen’s strengths lie in Asian and developing markets, although it too has suffered outflows. Its Asia Pacific Equity and Emerging Markets Equity funds are especially popular at £1.4bn and £1.6bn.
Aberdeen in 2013 took over the management of SWIP funds, formerly part of the Lloyds Banking Group. This included a highly popular UK commercial property portfolio.
Ryan Hughes, head of fund selection at investment platform AJ Bell explained that although the companies have different focuses, there is some overlap.
Commercial property funds are one area of overlap, as are funds investing in bonds.
Mr Hughes said: “We can expect fund consolidation
"As and when changes are announced, investors will need to evaluate whether the investment objective, risk level and costs still suit their objectives."
For now he urged investors to "keep patient and wait”.
Both Aberdeen and Standard Life have the mandates to manage several investment trusts. With these funds an independent board can monitor portfolio managers' performance and replace them as necessary.
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