The investment manager’s performance was weighed down by a “tough” emerging market backdrop, particularly with its equities holdings which dropped by £2.3bn ($3.5bn, €3bn) in the final quarter.
Aberdeen said December had been a “difficult month” with “investor sentiment remaining fragile”, reflected its overall assets under management which reduced by £1.1bn. This puts the group’s total AUM at £323.3bn.
Although fixed income saw a £1.5bn boost in value and both Asia Pacific and global equities attracted net inflows for the quarter, high outflows dominated the firm’s property sector which slumped by £500m.
The Scottish firm said that most of the outflows came from lower margin strategies, although emerging market debt saw a drop in demand as investors’ appetite for risk waned.
Meanwhile, the firm’s integration of Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) is still underway and is expected to be complete by the end of this year. Of the company’s total outflows, almost £1.5bn can be attributed to SWIP.
Chief executive of Aberdeen, Martin Gilbert, said the quarter can be split into two parts: an encouraging October and November where equity flows were positive, followed by December which reflected the frailty of investor sentiment.
“Despite these results and ongoing concerns about Europe and elsewhere, Aberdeen is in good shape,” he said. “Importantly we have a strong balance sheet, a global client base and a wide range of capabilities to meet the needs of investors.
“We are confident that we remain well positioned to meet the long term, changing needs of our investors over the coming years.”
