By Iain Withers
LONDON (Reuters) -Abrdn CEO Stephen Bird has stepped down, the British fund manager said on Friday, after a turbulent four-year tenure marked by deep outflows of client cash and a much-criticised rebranding.
Abrdn said that the board and Bird had agreed it was the “right time to hand over the reins”, with finance chief Jason Windsor taking over on an interim basis while the company begins the formal search process for a permanent CEO.
Abrdn shares were up 2% in early trading.
The compny has struggled to turn around its fortunes after years of clients pulling cash, with its difficulties underscored last year when it tumbled out of Britain’s blue-chip .
Bird tried to revive abdrn by shedding jobs, reducing its range of funds and expanding into mass-market investing through the takeover of online platform interactive investor in 2022.
The company attracted headlines in 2021 after a widely mocked rebranding that dropped vowels from its name to become abrdn rather than Standard Life (LON:) Aberdeen.
“We view the change of leadership as an opportunity for someone to take a fresh look at the best strategy to take abrdn forward,” RBC analysts said in a note, adding that the change could lead to renewed investor calls for a break-up of the company, though they viewed this as challenging.
Abrdn said Bird would begin a 12-month notice period and was being treated as a “good leaver” under the terms of his contract, meaning he will be paid his salary as normal and will still be entitled to unvested bonuses.
Bird will go on gardening leave at the end of June after working with Windsor on handing over responsibilities, the statement added. Windsor became chief financial officer of the Edinburgh-based company in October.
Active fund managers such as abrdn have struggled in recent years to compete with low-cost index trackers and investment options tied to soaring central bank rates, though the company reported improved figures for the first quarter.
Trading and net flows so far in the second quarter have shown trends similar to the previous three-month period, abrdn said. Last month it reported 0.8 billion pounds ($1.02 billion) of net inflows over the January-March period while assets under management increased by 3% to 507.7 billion pounds.
($1 = 0.7880 pounds)