Aberdeen Asset Management has reported a slight fall in the funds it controls – but said it remains confident it can grow profits.
The Granite City-based firm said it believed sales will grow organically following its £550million acquisition of Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (Swip).
In an interim management statement, chief executive Martin Gilbert revealed that assets under management at the group fell to £322.5billion by the end of June, down from £324.5billion at the end of March, as Swip was hit by £3.3billionn of net outflows.
Mr Gilbert said clients pulled their money out of Asia Pacific and global equities – but is still enthusiastic about the firm’s prospects following the landmark deal, which made it the biggest fund manager in Europe.
“Encouragingly, investor sentiment towards Asia and emerging markets recovered somewhat during the quarter,” he said.
“While the improvement in our underlying equity new business flows has been masked by a significant (£4billion) withdrawal by a single client, it is rewarding to see growing interest in our broader product range.”
He added: “We completed the acquisition of SWIP at the beginning of the quarter and we are pleased with the progress of the integration so far, in terms of both timing and the planned synergies.
“Our enlarged and strengthened business enables us to meet the needs of a broader range of clients given our diverse product mix and Aberdeen, as a result, is even better placed to deliver attractive returns to clients and shareholders alike.”