Standard Life's chairman Sir Gerry Grimstone has said the "strong voice" of the new bloc of Scottish MPs at Westminster will be good for Scotland providing it is also "reasonable".

 

Sir Gerry said Standard had never shown "antipathy to Scotland" during last year's referendum campaign when he attracted some nationalist fire for warning that it would have to move some operations to England in the event of a yes vote.

He went on: "I am looking forward to there being a strong, reasonable Scottish voice in Parliament, it will be good for Scotland and as one of the leading companies in Scotland it will be good for us."

He said he would "do exactly the same thing again" in the event of another referendum, but stressed: "Our stance should never be taken as being against Scotland."

The veteran chairman, who also chairs TheCityUK, was commenting before a subdued annual meeting in Edinburgh attended by barely 100 shareholders.

He said the integrity of the UK was important to Standard Life, as was the single market in European financial services for a company with major businesses in Ireland and Germany.

On how the election had affected the City, Sir Gerry said: "I welcome the end to uncertainty...a prolonged period of uncertainty would have been bad for the UK and particularly bad for people overseas who were investing in the UK. It is not a judgement on one government versus another but it would have been a bad thing -as far as one can see we will have five years of stable government."

He said UK financial services, where two jobs out of three were outside London, needed the single market and he would argue the case for EU membership.

Sir Gerry told shareholders he was "proud of our Scottish heritage". Analysis last year of the effects of separation had shown that "regrettably we would have to move parts of our business to England - but we never told people how they should vote".

He said following the "revolutionary changes in pensions" the business was now "hoping for a period of stability so that we can concentrate on serving our customers".

David Nish, chief executive, said Standard now had 3.8m customers, 3.2m of whom wanted to engage actively about their investments, and the company would be launching enhanced online tools and guidance during the current quarter. For the million more affluent customers wanting specialist advice, Standard was building a full advice service by acquiring progressive IFA firms. "It will be digital, by phone, or face to face, and integrated with workplace and retail, for customers whose needs can no longer be met through self-service or guidance. We expect this essential part of the market will continue to grow strongly."

Sir Gerry said the acquisition of Ignis and the sale of Standard's historic Canadian business to Manulife last year had been "the right moves" for the group. Standard's market value was as high now as it had been before the Canadian deal was announced, despite the return of £1.75bn to shareholders. It was also double the company's £4.6bn market value on its 2006 flotation - and another £4.6bn had also been handed out in dividends. "I hope you agree that's pretty good going," the chairman said.

Asked by shareholder John Birley whether, as he had been told by an employee of Manulife in London, the Canadian company had "overpaid" in the deal, Sir Gerry replied: "I very much hope they did."

Mr Nish said although the company appeared to have shrunk after the sale, it was now being valued at a higher market rating because "we are a smaller business but faster-moving". He said the rapid opening by Standard Life Investments of new offices, now in 21 countries, showed that the group had "great ambitions" for growth.

Keith Skeoch, chief executive of SLI, told shareholder Ivan Jones that its policy on holding companies publicly to account when necessary had not changed. "I think you will find as the agm season rolls on that SLI will turn up at a few meetings and be asking some very awkward questions."