Abrdn clients pull £13.9bn amid job cuts at investment firm
The fund manager and wealth specialist saw its pre-tax loss shrink to £6 million for last year, reducing from a £612 million loss.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Abrdn said clients have pulled billions from the investment company as it begins major cuts this year.
It came as the fund manager and wealth specialist saw its pre-tax loss shrink to £6 million for last year, reducing from a £612 million loss.
The firm said last month it plans to cut around 500 jobs as part of a sweeping overhaul to save the investment firm up to £150 million in costs.
The Edinburgh-based company, which rebranded from Standard Life Aberdeen in 2021, said the cuts will primarily take place this year and be completed by the end of 2025.
It also reported £13.9 billion in net outflows during 2023 as many clients withdrew funds.
We are taking action to rebuild and grow profit in our investments business
This partly led to a 4% fall in net operating revenue to £1.4 billion for the year.
Meanwhile, the firm said operating expenses decreased by 4% reflecting management actions to reduce costs.
It also said it witnessed £152 million of restructuring and corporate transaction expenses over the past year.
Stephen Bird, chief executive officer of Abrdn, said: “Over the past three years we have reshaped the business to fit the modern investment landscape.
“We now have content and distribution aligned to the products and services clients need, and we are better positioned for future growth.
“We are taking action to rebuild and grow profit in our investments business.
“We have sharpened our focus on improving investment performance, streamlined our fund range, reduced costs by £102 million in 2023, exceeding our £75 million target and we announced a new cost-saving programme of at least £150 million on January 24.”