Standard Life Aberdeen has confirmed plans to change its name to Abrdn as part of a rebrand that will take place throughout 2021.

The asset manager confirmed that the new name will be used across all client-facing businesses globally and comes as part of its ongoing reshaping of the business.

Outlining its “future-focused growth strategy”, Standard Life Aberdeen said it has three main growth areas including global asset management, technology platforms for UK financial advisors and their customers, and UK savings and wealth.

The asset manager will continue operating under its current stock ticker until the revised stock ticker is rolled out when the new name comes into effect. It expects the revised stock ticker to be in place before its half year results in August.

Standard Life Aberdeen was formed following the high-profile merger of Standard Life Investments and Aberdeen Asset Management in 2017. Standard Life CEO, Keith Skeoch, and Martin Gilbert, CEO of Aberdeen, jointly led the combined company until 2019 when the firm scrapped its dual leadership and Gilbert retired from the role.

Stephen Bird, the former global consumer banking CEO at Citi, became chief executive of Standard Life Aberdeen in June 2020 as Skeoch stepped down. Bird had been with Citi for 21 years, having also led the investment bank’s business in Asia as CEO of Citi Asia Pacific.

“Our new brand Abrdn builds on our heritage and is modern, dynamic and, most importantly, engaging for all of our client and customer channels,” Bird commented on the rebrand. “It is a highly differentiated brand that will create unity across the business, replacing five different brand names that have each been operating independently.”

The post Standard Life Aberdeen rebrands as Abrdn  appeared first on The TRADE.

Stephen Bird has been chosen as the new CEO for Standard Life Aberdeen and will take up the role on 1 July this year, as Skeoch moves to a non-executive director position for the remainder of his contract, the asset manager said in a statement.

Skeoch had been CEO of Standard Life since 2004, and became co-CEO of Standard Life Aberdeen alongside Martin Gilbert following the merger between Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management in 2017.  In March last year, the buy-side firm ditched its dual leadership following Gilbert’s decision to step down as co-CEO.  

“I know Stephen well and will leave my current role knowing the Company is in great hands. He will have my full support during transition, as he will have on an ongoing basis from the great team which has supported me,” Skeoch commented.

Bird is a former 21-year Citi veteran, most recently serving as CEO at global consumer banking since 2015. Prior to that he was chief executive for all of the investment bank’s Asia Pacific business lines across 17 markets, including India and China.

“The transition from Keith Skeoch was always going to be a challenge to deliver, given the incredible scale and range of his contributions to the success of the company over many years. I am however extremely pleased to say we have found a truly worthy successor. I am delighted to welcome Stephen to Standard Life Aberdeen and am looking forward to working with him,” said Sir Douglas Flint, chairman of Standard Life Aberdeen.

“I am delighted to welcome Stephen to Standard Life Aberdeen and am looking forward to working with him. He is an inspiring leader with a great track record and experience in leading businesses to harness digital technology to improve both productivity and the client and customer experience.”

The post Keith Skeoch to step down as CEO of Standard Life Aberdeen appeared first on The TRADE.

The Investment Association confirmed that Keith Skeoch, CEO of Standard Life Aberdeen, has been appointed chair of the board, while Michelle Scrimgeour, CEO of Legal & General Investment Management, and Patrick Thomson, CEO for EMEA at JP Morgan Asset Management, have been appointed deputy chairs. 

“Given the pace and scale of the changes faced by our industry, here in the UK and internationally, it has never been more important to have a strong voice speaking up for the investment management industry,” Chris Cummings, chief executive of the Investment Association, said. 

The senior appointments follow a board meeting and vote earlier this week, with all three buy-side bosses due to start their roles on 1 May this year. The Investment Association added the move aims to bolster the trade body’s long-term direction. 

“The asset management industry plays key roles in allocating capital to businesses and infrastructure projects, engaging with companies on ESG issues and importantly helping millions of people achieve their long-term financial objectives. I am honoured to be appointed chair of the board of the Investment Association,” Skeoch commented.

Skeoch replaces Peter Harrison, CEO of Schroders, who has been chair of the board for the past three years, and Scrimgeour and Thomson both replace Skeoch, who previously served as deputy chair of the board.

“I very much appreciate the confidence of my board colleagues and look forward to playing my part in ensuring that we have robust conversations around the future direction of our sector. As the industry’s trade body, we must continue to evolve and support the highest standards for all savers and investors,” Scrimgeour added.

The post Buy-side bosses join board at Investment Association appeared first on The TRADE.

Industry veteran Martin Gilbert has announced plans to retire from Standard Life Aberdeen after 36 years in asset management.

The £577 billion asset manager confirmed in a statement that Gilbert, who co-founded Aberdeen Asset Management in 1983, has advised the board that he will not seek re-election at the company’s annual general meeting on 12 May next year, and will retire from Standard Life Aberdeen on 30 September 2020.

Until then, Gilbert will transition his client and regulatory relationships to the executive team at Standard Life Aberdeen, and certain public policy and industry body relationships to the chairman, Douglas Flint.

“It is impossible to overstate Martin’s achievement in building Aberdeen Asset Management into a truly global and widely respected investment firm,” Flint commented. “His ability to attract talent to deliver that success and his unrelenting commitment to the firm’s clients leave a legacy of which he should be immensely proud and which serves as a solid foundation for our future success.”

In March this year, Gilbert stepped down as co-CEO of Standard Life Aberdeen, with Keith Skeoch leading the company as the sole chief executive. Skeoch, formerly CEO of Standard Life, and Gilbert, formerly CEO of Aberdeen Asset Management, took on the co-CEO roles after the investment groups merged in 2017 to form a £670 billion buy-side powerhouse.

“It has been an incredible journey, almost unimaginable from the earliest days when we were just three people in one office in Aberdeen with £50 million under management to today’s total in excess of £500 billion,” Gilbert stated. “For more than 30 years, I have been fortunate to have worked with brilliant people all across the company, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my colleagues – past and present – who have supported me on this journey.”

The post Martin Gilbert to retire from Standard Life Aberdeen appeared first on The TRADE.

The £505 billion investment arm of Standard Life Aberdeen deployed the operating system to simplify security and maintenance, and improve overall desktop performance at the firm globally.

Aberdeen Asset Management began the move to a virtual desktop environment with IGEL four years ago, prior to the merger of Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management in 2017 to form Standard Life Aberdeen. The initial project meant that bringing together the technology infrastructures of both firms was less challenging following the merger.

“When we merged with Standard Life, they were also looking at IGEL solutions and already had some virtual desktops,” said Nicholas Chase, global infrastructure project manager at Aberdeen Standard Investments.

“Following the merger, we were able to have two icons on the device at start-up; one pointing to Aberdeen Standard Investments and one to Standard Life’s technology infrastructure. This has been a huge benefit for our migration teams. They can deploy one IGEL managed device and not worry about which users will be using it and which technology infrastructure they need to connect through to.”

This year, Aberdeen Standard Investments will convert their Windows PC’s in the US and EMEA to IGEL’s operating system endpoints, to standardise all devices and combine them under a granular, centralised control. The project is due to be completed in 2020 and will be carried out IGEL and its hardware specialist partner Intelligere.

“Our relationship with both partners is fantastic. Intelligere is great to work with. They have excelled in understanding our challenges and working with us,” Chase added. “The IGEL account management team is also second to none. When issues have arisen, nothing is too small to resolve quickly.”

The post Aberdeen Standard Investments overhauls desktops with IGEL appeared first on The TRADE.

Martin Gilbert

Standard Life Aberdeen has announced that its co-chief executive Martin Gilbert has stepped down from the role, ending the group’s shared leadership structure following its merger in 2017.

The UK asset manager confirmed in a statement that Keith Skeoch will lead the company as sole CEO as of 13 March, after the board unanimously approved plans to disband the current co-chief executive structure.  

“The management changes now being announced are designed to strengthen our client focus, simplify reporting lines and put in place a structure which will facilitate robust execution of the next stages of our transition and transformation programmes,” Standard Life Aberdeen said.

Skeoch, formerly CEO of Standard Life, and Gilbert, formerly CEO of Aberdeen Asset Management, took on the co-CEO roles after the investment groups merged to form a £670 billion buy-side powerhouse. Gilbert will remain with the asset manager as vice chairman, chairman of Aberdeen Standard Investments, and as an executive director on the board.

In his new role, Gilbert will be able to focus solely on strategic relationships with key clients, Standard Life Aberdeen said, as well as winning new business. Both Gilbert and Skeoch will report to group chairman Douglas Flint.

“A great deal has been achieved by both Martin and Keith to drive the business forward, and leave us well-placed for the future,” Flint commented. “The changes that we have announced today have the unanimous backing of the board. The new structure will strengthen our client focus, simplify reporting lines and facilitate robust execution of the next stages of our transition and transformation programmes.”

Finally, Standard Life Aberdeen confirmed that Bill Rattray will retire from the board and from his role as finance director at the end of May this year. Stephanie Bruce, a partner at PwC since 2002, will succeed Rattray and take up the position of chief financial officer from June.   

The post Standard Life Aberdeen dumps dual leadership as Gilbert steps down appeared first on The TRADE.

Keith Skeoch, co-chief executive of Standard Life Aberdeen, Patrick Thomson, chief executive for EMEA and international head of institutional clients at JP Morgan Asset Management, and Philippe d’Orgeval, head of AXA Investment Management in the UK, have all joined the IA board.

Welcoming the new board members, the IA’s chief executive, Chris Cummings, said: “As recognised leaders in the industry, they bring a wealth of expertise that will help ensure the Investment Association continues to be the authoritative voice for asset management.

“I would like to pay tribute to the retiring directors, whose guidance during their time on the Board has helped build the IA into the organisation that it is today,”

Invesco EMEA chief executive, Andrew Schlossberg retired from the IA board in December last year, while Jasper Berens, head of distribution at Artemis Investment Management, and Dan Watkins, now JP Morgan Asset Management’s APAC chief executive, both departed in December last year.

The post Investment Association adds Standard Life Aberdeen, JP Morgan AM and AXA IM executives to board appeared first on The TRADE.

Aviva Investors said the new hires reflect the firm’s commitment to invest in its equities business, following the appointment of David Cumming as chief investment officer for equities in January this year.

Mikhail Zverev and Alistair Way will join as head of global equities and head of global emerging market equities, respectively.

Zverev was formerly head of global equities at Standard Life, where he also served as a portfolio manager for a number of funds. Similarly, Way was formerly head of Asia and global emerging market equities at Standard Life and a portfolio manager for several funds.

Both will report to Cumming, alongside Henry Flockhart and Adam McInally, who are joining Aviva Investors as UK equity portfolio managers. Both were formerly investment directors for UK equities and portfolio managers at Standard Life.

Aviva Investors also confirmed it has hired Jaime Ramos Martin, Stephanie Niven and Ross Mathison as global equities portfolio managers, alongside Jonathan Taub and Will Malcom who will join Aviva as global emerging markets portfolio managers.

All of the newly appointed portfolio managers join Aviva Investors from Standard Life, apart from Niven who joins from Tesco Pension Investment.

“We are delighted to attract such high-calibre, experienced individuals with strong performance track records to Aviva Investors, and look forward to them joining the team in the coming months,” said Cumming.

“These appointments, along with additional hires we plan to make this year, will complete the creation of strong, integrated teams in the key areas of global, emerging markets, Europe, US and UK equities.”

Chief executive at Aviva Investors, Euan Munro, added that investing in its equities capabilities is a strategic priority for the business.

“These hires will enhance our ability to offer compelling equity propositions for wholesale and institutional investors, as well as strengthening idea generation for our broader range of investment solutions,” he said.

The post Standard Life loses eight fund managers to Aviva Investors appeared first on The TRADE.

The asset management industry has entered an era of consolidation. New powerhouses have been born out of structural headwinds, such as the rise of passive investing and a continual squeeze on profits, in a trend which looks set to strengthen in the coming years.

Standard Life Aberdeen, Janus Henderson and Amundi Pioneer are among the completed high profile mergers the industry saw this year.

Typically following a union of two asset managers, the combined entity seeks a way to achieve economy of scale, a more diverse family of funds, further investment gains with the lowest possible cost and a single workflow, and best execution policy. But once the dust has settled on a merger, trading and execution businesses on both sides of the deal face a far greater task.

Although combining trading desks may initially sound easy enough, there are a multitude of factors to be considered and key decisions to be made before trading and execution is bound under one business. Separate systems, different cultures, regulatory requirements and policies, and workflow of the combined trading businesses all have to be considered after the initial tie-up is concluded.

“When you buy a company, you also buy their investments, trading and execution. Most companies we speak to tend to be very nervous and careful about affecting the trading and asset management structure of the firm they are acquiring,” says Joshua Satten, director of business consulting at Sapient Global Markets.

Painful and difficult process

Technology is perhaps the greatest challenge for asset managers looking to combine trading desks after a merger. Two desks will likely operate different order and execution management systems to trade different instruments according to portfolio style and a variety of regulatory or investor requirements. Alongside this, there is transaction cost analysis tools, market data and analytics, and various other technology products and vendors to consider.

“Merging trading desks is a very painful and difficult process,” says John Adam, global head of product strategy at Portware. “The challenge is combining two technology stacks that are specialised and built to run funds worth hundreds of billions of dollars, it creates problems.

“The way we look at buy-side trading entities is in terms of workflow, the technology isn’t an end unto itself so it’s about recognising alpha and maximising efficiency of both desks. The size and scale of orders generated by a surge in assets under management generates a truly massive amount of order volume for those trading desks.”

After overcoming the initial shock of a mega merger, both parties are then tasked with digging down into the nuances and vast differences between the two desks. For a chief technology officer overseeing such a project, the majority of time will indeed be spent investigating the workflows of both shops to decide which systems will lead the trading activities of the combined desk.

“There is a technology hurdle in trading where you can’t necessarily realise the synergies and efficiencies straight out of the gate,” says one veteran head of trading with experience of such an integration process.

“The desks have to undergo a transition period where there can be two different but functioning TCA providers, EMS or OMS providers or all three, running through different channels for a period of time. That is inevitable; two firms simply won’t come together and seamlessly integrate. With a merger of desks it’s about the dialogue of finding the best process.”

Not all recently merged entities would look to integrate their trading desk in the same way and this can very much depend on the size of both asset managers. For example in some cases, the EMS would be left alone and the larger entity of the two would become the incumbent. There would then be an adoption of their vendor as they have the bigger relationship. Yet, it’s certainly an opportunity for an asset manager to redesign its architecture and move systems onto a more efficient, cloud-based technology.

Once completed, the merged trading desks will certainly reap the rewards of moving onto a single system for a more intelligent unified trading operation. The everyday work of traders may be different, but ultimately what they do is very similar so building a platform and single trading workflow can simplify and automate processes across the business.

“It’s interesting when you take two asset managers who are merging because the trading desks can be so different,” the head of trading adds. “The first thing to look at is the workflows and systems; we all have access to the same vendors but workflows, culture and philosophies can be vastly different. At a high level it can look as though we are doing the same process but as you dig into the nuances, it’s amazing how distinct the processes actually are.”

Experts in the buy-side mega-merger and those with experience of the process agree integrating trading operations can present both opportunities and challenges. Following a merger, the asset management firms are ultimately looking to achieve economy of scale, efficiency and trade automation. The process, however, will very much depend on the individual firms looking to operate under a single combined business.

“It’s a huge opportunity, to strengthen relationships for example, but in many cases consolidating the execution or portfolio management sides of each business can create less value. Particularly for larger firms who tend to focus less on trading and more on research or analytics when looking to merge,” Satten explains. 

Headcount headaches

In some cases, particularly with the larger mergers, it can mean traders are at risk of losing their jobs during a restructuring process. For example, Standard Life Aberdeen decided to cut around 800 jobs following the completion of their merger. The reduction in headcount will be carried out over the next three years and a statement from both firms explained the cuts would help the combined entity achieve cost synergies through restructuring where duplication currently exists.

On the sell-side it’s a similar story. Shortly after Virtu Financial’s acquisition of KCG earlier this year it was revealed the headcount of the combined entity was slashed 31% from 1,100 in December 2016, to just 755 in August this year.

But this isn’t always the case - especially on the buy-side - and achieving efficiency and trade automation doesn’t necessarily mean a reduction in headcount on the trading desks. Adam explains the buy-side operates differently following a merger and some of Portware’s clients have automated their order flow by up to 50% without having to disrupt or downsize the amount of traders on the desk.

“Traders are valuable to the buy-side and they don’t want to waste the human capital if they can’t outperform an algorithm or a machine. Instead, they will be placed on the more difficult trades where their skills matter the most,” Adam says.

The buy-side’s appetite for consolidation is in its infancy and experts agree should profits continue to fall while passive investing and regulatory requirements continue to rise, the buy-side will indeed continue to merge. As each merger is completed, the real work truly begins for those firms joining forces. If desks are merged instantaneously, or nothing is done at all, the consequences could be severe.

Despite its challenges, integrating trading desks after a merger is truthfully an opportunity for the asset managers to overhaul, update and streamline trading workflow to achieve those sought-after cost synergies, efficiencies and trade automation.

The post Merging trading desks appeared first on The TRADE.

Standard Life has completed the acquisition of its rival Aberdeen Asset Management, bringing £670 billion of combined assets under one roof.

First announced in March, both firms said the merger will create an investment group with “strong brands and a leading global distribution platform, enhancing proximity to clients”.

Keith Skeoch, the CEO at Standard Life, and Martin Gilbert, CEO at Aberdeen Asset Management, will jointly run Standard Life Aberdeen as co-CEOs.

At the time of the announcement, Gilbert explained the merger “brings financial strength, diversity of customer base and global reach to ensure that the enlarged business can compete effectively on the global stage”.

Skeoch commented this morning that today marks the “culmination of many months of hard work and preparation by our business and the beginning of a new chapter in our history as Standard Life Aberdeen”.

In May, Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management said they expect to cut around 800 jobs globally following the completion of the merger.

The reduction in headcount - which currently stands at 9,000 - has been estimated as part of integration and restructuring and it is expected to be phased-in over three years.

“Standard Life and Aberdeen expect to achieve cost synergies where duplication exists and by taking advantage of opportunities to leverage the additional scale of the combined group,” a statement seen at the time said. 

The post Standard Life Aberdeen completes merger appeared first on The TRADE.