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Mr Abdon last year cut costs by more than £100m, ahead of expectations, as job cuts continue in the run-up to 2024.
Annual figures published on February 27 show the foundation group cut costs by £102m in 2023, exceeding its target of £75m.
“Our balance sheet remains strong, allowing us to fund our cost transformation while continuing to make strategic investments in growth areas,” CEO Stephen Bird said in a statement. .
The result caps another difficult 12 months for Mr Bird, who has spent the past three years turning around the fortunes of the asset manager.
In January, he announced plans to cut costs by a further £150m, including cutting 500 jobs, around 10% of the company’s global workforce.
Mr Bird said at the time that inaction on costs would be “dangerous”.
“We are taking action because we believe we can establish a viable and profitable business,” Bird said in January.
read Abrdn CEO Stephen Bird: Not cutting costs is ‘risky’
“There is a technological disruption happening in traditional active asset management and it is our duty to adjust and adapt our businesses…that is what we are working on.”
He added on February 27 that “significant work remains”.
Despite the market recovery at the end of 2023, net assets fell by 1%, falling below the £500bn level. Adjusted operating profit fell 5% on sales of £1.4bn.
The fund house, whose share price has fallen more than 30% in the past five years, will be removed from the FTSE 100 in 2023. It is the second time in the past 12 months that the UK has been demoted from a major index.
Some shareholders have lost confidence in Bird’s turnaround plan.
U.S.-based Harris Associates sold its entire stake in Abdon last year because “management lacked confidence that it could repair the business,” said David Herro, vice chairman of the company. financial times early this month.
Since taking the top job in September 2020, Bird has reduced Abdon’s number of funds from more than 700 to fewer than 400 and sold its businesses, including its European private equity arm, in October.
He has also pursued acquisitions, including a landmark £1.5bn deal between Interactive Investor and US healthcare fund manager Tekla Capital Management in 2022.
Earlier this month, Abdon sold his stake in a joint venture he set up with Virgin Money five years ago.
The companies established Virgin Money Investments in 2019 with the aim of expanding the bank’s product range for its 6.6 million customers in the UK by developing retail investment services.
Sarah Deaves, head of financial planning, is the latest executive to leave Abdon, according to a Feb. 26 update from Companies House. Coutts’ former CEO joined the business in February 2022.
financial news revealed in November that Bird wanted to sell its investment management business after completing its acquisition of Interactive Investors, but the board rejected the idea in favor of keeping the group integrated. exercised the right.
“We are taking action to rebuild our investment business and increase profitability,” Bird said in a Feb. 27 earnings call.
Total inflows into the investment business were £50.3bn, £9bn less than in 2022 and “reflects customer reaction to the uncertain market environment”.
To contact the authors of this article with feedback or news, email David Ricketts and Justin Cash.
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