Latest news with #abrdn
Sky News
22-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News
Phoenix Group plots rebranding under historic Standard Life name
Phoenix Group, the FTSE-100 pensions provider, is plotting to rebrand itself using the historic Standard Life name it acquired four years ago. Sky News has learnt that Phoenix, which has a market value of over £6.2bn, is drawing up plans to drop the current name of its listed holding company in favour of that of Standard Life, which traces its roots back to the 1820s. City sources said an announcement was likely about the name-change in the coming months, although they insisted that a final decision had yet to be taken. If it does go ahead, it would see the Standard Life name returning to the London Stock Exchange for the first time since Standard Life Aberdeen made the ill-advised decision to change its name to the frequently derided abrdn in 2021. Standard Life is one of the City's most venerable brands, and was structured as a mutual for much of its existence. Responding to an enquiry from Sky News, a Phoenix Group spokesman said: "Our brand strategy must support our business strategy and this is kept under review. "Standard Life is a strong brand with 200 years of history and the brand we are using to grow our business across three markets. "You may have seen at our recent AGM we changed our articles of association to allow us to rebrand with board approval, rather than shareholder approval. "This board approval hasn't happened."
Telegraph
04-03-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Abrdn to bring back vowels after disastrous rebrand
Mr Windsor said: 'Talking about the name was a distraction. The name is there to enhance the reputation and how the group is perceived by customers and shareholders, and make it easier for us to get out and be proud about what we are and why we do it. 'We made a very small change in one respect and a big change in another. 'Now is the right time for us to do that so we can get out with confidence and talk about our business. I've asked our marketing team now to go out and make the most of it.' The company will change its trademark and registration at Companies House immediately to reflect the shift. While many rebrands cost millions of pounds, Mr Windsor said the business 'had not spent any more at all on it' and the redesign had been done internally by marketing managers at the company. It marks a change of tone by senior management at the FTSE 250 fund, who previously accused critics of unfairly attacking its name. Peter Branner, the company's chief investment officer, said last year the backlash had amounted to 'corporate bullying' and accused the media of being 'childish' for ridiculing the name. The company was rebranded as abrdn in 2021 from Standard Life Aberdeen, which was created out of a 2017 mega merger between Aberdeen Asset Management and insurer Standard Life. It means the change to Aberdeen Group will be the third renaming in five years. Mr Windsor downplayed the significance of the multiple brand names, saying that the name had remained the same when spoken. He said: 'I joined the group that I've always pronounced Aberdeen. Everybody else calls [it] Aberdeen and we're not changing it. 'The name in my mind as a verbal expression is not changing. This is a good name for the company. We are just trying to change the way we spell it out so it's not a distraction. 'The brand has real relevance across various markets. It's been around for 40 years. It actually transmits really well. When you turn up in Singapore, Beijing and New York, actually it works.' Adjusted profits grew for the first time in three times, rising 2pc to £255m, despite a 6pc fall in revenue of £1.3bn. Profits were boosted mainly by a reduction in costs, with Aberdeen slashing £100m last year. Around £35m from its defined benefit pension will also be used to fund its defined contribution scheme – delivering a £35m boost to Aberdeen's capital because it can take the money from the pension scheme instead.
Reuters
28-02-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Abrdn hires finance chief from NatWest's Coutts
LONDON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - British fund manager abrdn (ABDN.L), opens new tab said on Friday it would appoint Siobhan Boylan, an executive at NatWest's private bank Coutts, to become its next finance chief. Abrdn had been looking for a permanent successor to former Chief Financial Officer Jason Windsor after he stepped up to become CEO last year following the sudden departure of predecessor Stephen Bird. Boylan is expected to join abrdn in the summer, abrdn said, adding that interim CFO Ian Jenkins would continue in the role for the time being. Get a look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets with the Morning Bid U.S. newsletter. Sign up here.
Bloomberg
26-02-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Abrdn: Boost China Exposure But Stay Tactical
Irene Goh, deputy global head of multi-asset & investment solutions and head of Hong Kong at abrdn, says the asset manager has been actively playing China in the past two years while waiting for signs of recovery in consumer confidence and earnings. She discusses investment strategy with David Ingles and Rebecca Choong Wilkins on "Bloomberg: The China Show." (Source: Bloomberg)
Zawya
21-02-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Ukraine's investors left reeling as ceasefire hopes sour
LONDON - Ukraine's international investors have been left in shock after seven days of increasingly hostile rhetoric from U.S. President Donald Trump toward the country and its leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy have forced many to reconsider what may now lie ahead. The war-torn country's bonds have suffered their heaviest losses in well over a year in recent days after Trump's shock move to speak directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin last week was compounded on Wednesday when he branded Zelenskiy a "dictator". For politicians and investors alike it has raised doubts about the kind of peace deal Kyiv could be asked to swallow and whether it will be much different from the post-Crimea Minsk agreements that failed to prevent 2022's follow-up Russian invasion. "Trump is not indicating in any form that the resolution will be a good one in any way for Ukraine," said Daniel Moreno, head of emerging market debt at investment firm Mirabaud, that does not currently hold Ukrainian debt. "The future of Ukraine looks a lot more murky than it did a few weeks ago." A key worry for Moreno and many other creditors is that a flimsy peace deal without the necessary security reassurances would make international institutions and private investors less likely to pour money into rebuilding Ukraine. Analysts at JPMorgan estimated the reconstruction needs are at a minimum $35 billion a year over the next 10 years, although it could be up to $50 billion given Russia's intense bombardments of energy infrastructure over the last year. Ukraine's GDP warrant - which pays out more if the economy grows strongly - has been hammered particularly hard as those reconstruction doubts have emerged. The bonds it restructured last year and now included so-called 'step up' payments for when growth outperforms have suffered too. They have shed as much as 7 cents or roughly 10% over the last week. Still, for now, they remain more than 14 cents above the level just before Trump's November re-election and over the last year they have returned investors a staggering 70% - bettered only by two other highly idiosyncratic cases, Lebanon at 234% and Argentina at 84%. DEAL OR NO DEAL Viktor Szabo, a portfolio manager with abrdn, which is invested in Ukraine, acknowledged that Trump's actions over the last week have increased the risks. "It raises the odds that Ukraine will not accept whatever deal Trump and Putin come up with," he said, adding that if Trump's demands for elections in Ukraine are realised it opens up the possibility of popular army chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi running against Zelenskiy. He might then campaign to keep fighting the war rather than agree to a questionable peace deal. Kaan Nazli, a portfolio manager with Neuberger Berman, cautioned that trading had been thin, making bond prices more reactive to negative headlines. "Ultimately this comes down to what Russia is willing to accept and they have been keeping their cards very close to their chest," Nazli said, adding that Russia's "maximalist" demands thus far made it tough for the market to form a clear view without knowing more. Goldman Sachs said the full payout from GDP outperformance was "only plausible in the event of a near-term and lasting resolution to the war". The verbal jousting between Trump and Zelenskiy - and the exclusion of European and Ukrainian leaders from the talks between U.S. and Russian leaders - is feeding doubt over the lasting value of any potential ceasefire agreement. "I think the path to peace and a beneficial reconstruction has been postponed till further notice, Mirabaud's Moreno said. "It is very unclear who, when and why anyone would want to invest in Ukraine right now."
