Aberdeen posts £32.8bn outflows amid volatile sentiment
Net outflows from Aberdeen Asset Management’s funds reached £32.8bn for the nine months to end of September, which hit the company’s earnings.
The company’s revenue in the year to end-September fell 14% to £1bn, while underlying pretax profit fell to £352.7m from £491.6m in the same period a year ago.
Aberdeen’s chairman Simon Troughton said the level of equities outflows “declined steadily” throughout the year, down to £13.6bn this year from £16.4bn in 2015.
According to Martin Gilbert, CEO of Aberdeen, outflows were driven by economic and political newsflow, which weighed on investor sentiment.
Troughton said the early part of 2016 saw the continuation of the volatile and challenging market conditions experienced in 2015. He added that markets and investor sentiment may continue to fluctuate, highlighting the US election as part of a series of political events which will continue to impact markets.
Troughton noted that emerging market equities recorded a small net inflow £0.6bn for the final quarter, albeit negative for the year overall with net outflows for the year of £0.8bn.
“It has been pleasing to see more positive investor sentiment towards emerging markets as the year progressed and, while industry flows have initially favoured passive and Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) strategies, we saw healthy net inflows to our emerging markets equities in the final quarter,” Troughton said.
The firm’s assets under management grew from £284bn to £312bn, on the back of improved markets, especially for emerging market and Asian focused asset classes, and the depreciation of sterling.
