Yahoo Finance Abrdn records rebound in flows as boss says cost-cutting is ‘on track’
The vowel-stripped investor said total assets under management grew by three per cent between January and March to £507.7bn on the back of a rebound in flows onto its platform.
The asset management group, which has been grappling with outflows from its funds in recent years, recorded net inflows at a group level of £800m. In the same period last year, investors pulled £6.2bn from its funds.
Interactive Investor, the group’s retail investment platform, made up the bulk of inflows with £1.2bn in the period. Total assets in the division rose to £69.6bn at the end of March
However, boss Stephen Bird said there was “more work to be done” on its adviser business after the division haemorrhaged around £900m in the period.
Bird has been pushing through a turnaround plan for the firm and looking to strip out costs after a troubling few years following its £11bn merger with Standard Life in 2917. The firm sold of Standard Life in 2021 and renamed itself as Abrdn in a much-mocked rebrand.
In a statement today, Bird said the turnaround efforts were pushing ahead at pace as it looked to restore profitability.
“Our cost transformation programme is on track as we take action to sustainably restore our business to a more acceptable level of profitability,” Bird said. “Our key focus, and our most important priority, is on delivering investment performance for all of our clients.”
Shares in Abrdn are down over 50 per cent over the past five years.
At its most recent full-year results in February, Abrdn reported adjusted operating profit of £249m, down five per cent from £263m the previous year but marginally ahead of analyst forecasts.
Abrdn laid out plans to cut 500 roles in January after worse-than-expected net outflows of client cash in the second half of 2023.
