Scotland's Aberdeen Asset Management reports fourth quarter of outflows of £4.4B

By Nicel Jane Avellana

Jan 16, 2014 10:09 AM EST

Aberdeen Asset Management Plc posted fourth quarter net outflows amounting to £4.4 billion or $7.2 billion as clients pulled out funds from emerging markets, Bloomberg reported. The largest money manager in Scotland, Aberdeen Asset Management manages investment trusts, unit trusts and institutional funds for clients, both retail and institutional. The funds that the group manages are primarily United Kingdom funds. However, it also has funds from the Far East, Japan, Europe and the United States, Bloomberg information showed.

In a statement, the London-based money manager said that in the three months ending December 31, its assets under management dropped 3.4% to £193.6 billion compared with the figures in the prior quarter.

Chief Executive Officer Martin Gilbert said in the statement that the outflows reflected how investors view emerging economies. He said, "Business flows reflected the continuing negative sentiment toward Asian and emerging markets. Given the environment, we are closely managing costs. We have a strong new business pipeline which is expected to deliver around an additional 2 billion pounds in assets in early 2014."

An estimated two-thirds of the assets of Aberdeen is placed in emerging markets worldwide as well as in Asia Pacific region stocks. Earlier in the week, rival Ashmore Group Plc fell in London trading after its clients took out funds amounting to $3.5 billion from the emerging markets money manager in the quarter that ended December, the report said.

Gilbert added that progress is being made with its purchase of Scottish Widows Investment Partnership or SWIP from Lloyds Banking Group Plc. The acquisition will "significantly expand and diversify" the assets under management of Aberdeen, according to Gilbert. In November, the company said it would be buying the company for a price tag of £560 million in order to form the biggest publicly investment firm in Europe, the report said.

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