Aberdeen assets contract as clients withdraw more than £5bn
Finance giant Aberdeen saw its assets shrink over the latest quarter as clients withdrew more than £5 billion amid volatile conditions in global financial markets.
Shares in the company still made gains on Wednesday morning despite the reduction in assets.
The asset management firm, which added vowels back to rebrand from Abrdn last month, revealed total assets under management of £500.1 billion for the quarter to March 31.
It said this dropped from £511.4 billion over the past three months, as it was impacted by a net outflow of £5.2 billion.
The company has come under pressure in recent months amid increased client outflow and has sought to reduce costs with rounds of job cuts.
However, the firm highlighted improvement in its Interactive Investor (ii) platform business, which reported a net inflow of £1.6 billion for the quarter as it benefited from market volatility driving trading activity.
Jason Windsor, chief executive of Aberdeen, said: 'Our strategy is to become the UK's leading wealth business and to reposition our investments business to areas of strength and market growth.
'So far this year, we have made good progress against these objectives, despite the current heightened levels of market uncertainty.
'Interactive investor has seen significant growth in new customers, and in trading volumes, which have risen to record levels during the recent period of market volatility.'
Rae Maile, research analyst at Panmure Liberum, said: 'The company has delivered assets under management in line with our estimates but with some significant signs of promise for the future: activity levels at ii have been strong and customer acquisition has continued; adviser net outflows have slowed usefully on reduced redemptions; investments saw outflows as anticipated but has landed a material new mandate in April.
'The company has also reiterated its profit ambitions for full-year 2026, which remain ahead of our estimates, despite recent market volatility.'
Shares moved 1.4% higher as a result.
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