Fund manager abrdn to axe hundreds of jobs in cost-cutting push

The British fund manager abrdn is preparing to cut hundreds of jobs in a cost-cutting drive aimed at boosting its flagging performance.

Sky News has learnt that abrdn will announce proposals for a round of redundancies alongside a hastily scheduled trading update on Wednesday morning.

It was unclear whether abrdn would give a precise figure for the headcount reductions, although one market source said it could affect in the region of 10% of its workforce of nearly 5,000 people.

Analysts expect the company, which was formed from the 2017 merger of Aberdeen Asset Management and Standard Life, to disclose that it has suffered billions of pounds in additional fund outflows during the second half of 2023.

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Abrdn, which managed £496bn in assets when it last updated on trading in August, is under pressure to boost its performance and faltering share price.

The company has seen its stock slide by nearly 15% over the last year, and it now has a market value of just £3.3bn.

Stephen Bird, the former Citigroup executive who took over as abrdn chief executive in 2020, has placed a firm bet on a pivot towards retail investors by acquiring the funds supermarket, Interactive Investor, for £1.5bn.

That division is said to be performing strongly, but the institutional business has been flagging amid broader market pressures.

Last month, the Financial Times reported that abrdn was cutting employee benefits such as paid parental leave in an effort to exert a firmer grip on costs.

Mr Bird has also closed and merged scores of funds to try to improve efficiency, with a previous, smaller round of job cuts taking place last year.

He has also recruited a new finance chief, Jason Windsor, formerly of Aviva, who is seen as a credible long-term successor to Mr Bird when he eventually leaves the company.

Abrdn declined to comment.