Abrdn clients poured money into funds once again as the asset manager remained silent on its search for a chief executive.
The FTSE 250 firm reported an ‘encouraging start’ to the first half of the year with net inflows of £800million.
That was in stark contrast to the £5.2billion of net outflows the year before.
Return to profit: Abrdn reported an ‘encouraging start’ to the first half of the year with net inflows of £800m. That was in stark contrast to the £5.2bn of net outflows the year before
Abrdn’s half-year results also showed it swung back into profit, reported higher assets and cut costs.
But the investment house failed to announce a permanent replacement for Stephen Bird, who left his job as chief executive at the end of June after four years.
His tenure included the controversial rebranding of the company’s name from Standard Life Aberdeen to Abrdn in 2021.
Finance boss Jason Windsor, who joined the asset manager in October last year, stepped up to become interim boss after Bird’s exit.
He said: ‘In the first half of the year we have made an encouraging start as we become more efficient, and we enhance our propositions to lay the foundations for growth.’
Assets under management rose 2 per cent to £505.9billion during the period while revenues fell 7 per cent to £667million.
Abrdn swung back into a profit of £187million after selling its European-based private equity business, having reported a £169million loss the year before.
It also reported a 9 per cent drop in business costs to £539million in the first half of 2024.
Clients pulled out fewer funds year-on-year in its investments business while the Interactive Investor platform saw a rise in customers.
But net outflows across its adviser platform more than tripled due to the cost-of-living crisis and ‘inflation beating cash-saving options in the market’.
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