The restructuring, which follows the completion of the Scottish Widows Investment Partnership acquisition also sees, Aidan Kearney leave the firm and Graham Duce, take on leadership of the firm's UK-based, discretionary multi-asset team.
Kearney and Duce joined Aberdeen in July of 2009 as co-heads of multi-manager portfolios from Credit Suisse.
According to Aberdeen, the combination of the two legacy teams means the group now has: “one of the most experienced and well-resourced in the industry with over 60 investment professionals.”
Archie Struthers, who has been appointed global head of the investment solutions business said of the manager selection team: “Led by Mark Harries, [the expanded Manager Selection team] is one of the largest in the industry and invests over £15 billion in third party funds. The team oversees the research, selection and on-going due diligence using an open architecture methodology. The team working closely with colleagues elsewhere within Investment Solutions are well placed to continue to manage dedicated multi-manager portfolios as well as contribute to broader multi-asset mandates.”
According to Aberdeen the division, which accounts for more than £90bn in client assets, will be split into two groups: portfolio management and research and portfolio construction.
The portfolio management arm will have three ‘sub-teams’: defined multi-asset strategies, led by Jeff King, discretionary multi-asset strategies, led by Mike Turner and dynamic allocation strategies also led by Turner. But, Aberdeen said it will be adding further senior personnel over the course of the rest of the year.
These teams will be supported by a global strategy, led by Ken Adams, manager selection – led by Harries, and an investment office, led by Christophe Belhomme, that Aberdeen says “will support the portfolio managers by applying rigorous quantitative techniques to construct core portfolios.”
According to the group, the manager selection team, “will oversee the research, selection and on-going due diligence using an open architecture methodology."
The heads of portfolio management, investment office, global strategy and manager selection will all report to Struthers.
