Abrdn’s assets hit new low as clients pull out more funds

GLOBAL investment company Abrdn’s assets fell to a new low after clients pulled more money from its funds. It shares fell.

The Edinburgh-based firm recorded net outflows of £5.2 billion (S$8.9 billion) in the six months through June, the firm said in a statement Tuesday (Aug 8). This compares with an average £3.08 billion of outflows forecast by analysts polled by Bloomberg. Assets fell to £495.7 billion from £500 billion at the end of 2022. 

“There is still work to do to complete our transformation,” said chief executive officer Stephen Bird, who has been trying to pivot the firm away from purely traditional asset management. 

To stop it bleeding assets, he has been trying to diversify the business and simplify its asset management business. The restructuring has been going on for several months, and recently the firm’s once-flagship Global Absolute Return Strategies fund, which at its 2016 peak reached £27 billion, was merged into another fund after losing more than 90 per cent of its assets.

Abrdn fell in early London trade, dropping as much as 8.9 per cent. It was down 8.3 per cent at 8:47 am (4.47 pm Singapore time).

Last month, Abrdn appointed Aviva veteran Jason Windsor as its new chief financial officer after Stephanie Bruce left earlier this year. There has also been a wave of senior departures in recent months, including those of Chris Demetriou, Abrdn’s asset management boss for the US, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Neil Slater, head of real estate and real assets. BLOOMBERG