Abrdn’s chief defends rebrand: ‘The name is the name’
Abrdn’s new chief executive defended the company’s rebrand from Aberdeen Standard Life and insisted its name will not change today despite a barrage of criticism over the ‘disemvowelment’ of the asset manager.
“The name is the name and we will be continuing with it,” said Jason Windsor this morning, when asked whether he would consider another rebrand of the firm.
It is the first time that Windsor has directly addressed the company’s much-mocked branding since taking over the reins permanently in September.
In April, the firm prompted ridicule when its chief investment officer complained it was facing “corporate bullying” over the branding.
“I understand that corporate bullying to some extent is part of the game with the press, even though it’s a little childish to keep hammering the missing vowels in our name,” said CIO Peter Branner.
When Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management merged in 2017, the company was dubbed ‘Staberdeen‘ by some in the City. It adopted the name Abrdn in 2021.
Developed by branding agency Wolff Olins, the new name is written in lower case and pronounced as ‘Aberdeen’.
The defence from Abrdn’s chief came as the company reported a strong set of results this morning with investor cash flowing into the business for the first quarter and prompting hopes of a turnaround.
The firm reported £1.2bn in net inflows across the first three months of its financial year, compared to outflows of £2.1bn expected by analysts.
“Abrdn has largely been the subject of headlines for the wrong reasons during the last few years, however, these results offer signs of optimism for the future,” said John Moore, senior investment manager at RBC Brewin Dolphin.
“Interactive Investor is performing very well and is offsetting outflows in the advisor division, while the wider asset management business is showing signs of stability.”
Interactive Investor has now grown to 439,000 customers, Windsor said, up from 430,000 in September.
However, the firm struggled in the adviser space, losing £3.9bn during the last quarter, more than had been expected by analysts.
Speaking on a media call, Abrdn CEO Windsor promised to “turn that business around” through an “absolute focus on client service”.
To do that, he pledged to get Abrdn’s advice business “back up to the level that is not just market standard, but market leading, which is where we were a few years ago”.
Windsor also called on the government to make a variety of changes to regulation to promote growth in the UK, specifically targeting the bugbear that is stamp duty on share trading”.
Abrdn’s chair, Douglas Flint, recently joined Chancellor Rachel Reeves on her trip to China, Windsor noted.
Despite strong progress on Abrdn’s cost saving plans, the CEO confirmed that the target of £150m in cuts had not changed.