Aberdeen Asset Management was an international

investment management Investment management is the professional asset management of various securities, including shareholdings, bonds, and other assets, such as real estate, to meet specified investment goals for the benefit of investors. Investors may be institut ...

group, managing assets for both institutions and private investors from offices around the world. Its head office was in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, Scotland. The company was listed on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

until 14 August 2017 when, as a result of a merger with

Standard Life Standard Life is a life assurance, pensions and long-terms savings company in the UK which is owned by Phoenix Group. History 1825–2010 The Standard Life Assurance Company was established in 1825 and was reincorporated as a mutual assurance ...

, it became a subsidiary of the renamed

Standard Life Aberdeen Abrdn plc (stylised as ‘abrdn’, disemvoweling of "Aberdeen"), formerly Standard Life Aberdeen plc, is a United Kingdom-based global investment company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a ...

History

The company was established in 1983 through a

management buy-out A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena of 1 ...

of an investment trust. It was then listed on the

in 1991. In recent years, it has seen significant growth from acquisitions. In 2000 it acquired Murray Johnstone, followed by Edinburgh Fund Managers in 2003, parts of

Deutsche Asset Management The DWS Group (Formerly: Deutsche Asset Management) commonly referred to as SDWS, is a German asset management company. It previously operated as part of Deutsche Bank until 2018 where it became a separate entity through an initial public offering ...

in 2005 and 2007, Glasgow Investment Managers in 2007, Goodman Property Investors in 2008, certain investment businesses of Credit Suisse Asset Management in 2009, and certain contracts and assets from RBS Asset Management in 2010. In November 2013,

Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Banking Group is a British financial institution formed through the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB in 2009. It is one of the UK's largest financial services organisations, with 30 million customers and 65,000 employees. Lloyds Bank w ...

sold

Scottish Widows Investment Partnership Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) was an asset management company based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was one of Europe's largest asset management companies, with £146 billion of funds under management as at 31 December 2013. These fu ...

(SWIP) to Aberdeen Asset Management in a £660m deal. The deal made Aberdeen Asset Management the second largest listed fund manager in Europe after

Schroders Schroders plc is a British multinational asset management company, founded in 1804. The company employs over 5,000 people worldwide in 32 locations around Europe, America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Headquartered in the City of London, it ...

, currently managing £308.1bn In May 2015, the firm agreed to acquire its US counterpart Flag Capital Management for an undisclosed deal that would double the private equity assets under the company's control. The Company sponsored

The Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. There are separate men's ...

between 1999 and 2001. In 2010 it signed a four-year sponsorship agreement with the

Dad Vail Regatta The Dad Vail Regatta is the largest regular intercollegiate rowing event in the United States, drawing over a hundred colleges and universities from North America. The regatta has been held annually on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pennsyl ...

to be title sponsor until 2013, the event's 75th Anniversary. The agreement has helped to keep the famous college rowing regatta in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, the Group's North American headquarters. In March 2012 it took over sponsorship of golf's Scottish Open for the following three years. Other sponsorships include the

Cowes Week Cowes Week ( ) is one of the longest-running regular regattas in the world. With 40 daily sailing races, up to 1,000 boats, and 8,000 competitors ranging from Olympic and world-class professionals to weekend sailors, it is the largest sailin ...

sailing regatta, Aberdeen Brunei Senior Masters Golf Tournament,

Edinburgh Rugby Edinburgh Rugby (formerly Edinburgh Reivers, Edinburgh Gunners) is one of the two professional rugby union teams from Scotland. The club competes in the United Rugby Championship, along with the Glasgow Warriors, its oldest rival. Edinburgh play ...

club, professional golfers

Colin Montgomerie Colin Stuart Montgomerie, Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 23 June 1963) is a Scotland, Scottish professional golfer. He has won a record eight European Tour PGA European Tour#Order of Merit winners, Order of Merit titles, including a stre ...

and

Paul Lawrie Paul Stewart Lawrie (born 1 January 1969) is a Scottish professional golfer who is best known for winning The Open Championship in 1999. He was a vice-captain for the European Ryder Cup team in 2016. Early career Lawrie was born in Aberdee ...

, and former

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

driver

Paul di Resta Paul di Resta (born 16 April 1986) is a British racing driver from Scotland, competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Peugeot Sport in their LMH entry. He drove in Formula One for Force India from to , and became a reserve driver ...

. In March 2017, Aberdeen Asset Management reached an agreement to merge with

, in an all-share merger. Standard Life changed its name to Standard Life Aberdeen on 14 August 2017.

Operations

Extreme 40 Aberdeen Asset Management at Cowes Week 2011 3

The company operated mainly in the United Kingdom but had a growing presence worldwide, particularly Asia, Oceania and the Americas, with over 2,500 staff, across 37 offices in 25 countries. Its headquarters were in the city of

, where Group functions including legal, group information and human resources were located, and it had its major investment desks in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

References

External links

Aberdeen Asset Management official site
{{Authority control Financial services companies of Scotland Investment management companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Aberdeen Financial services companies established in 1983 1983 establishments in Scotland Scottish brands Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Publicly traded companies 2017 mergers and acquisitions