Asset managers have nowhere to hide from falling markets, but Abrdn entered this year’s downturn on the back foot. The core investment management business continued to lose assets as clients pulled their cash and it wrestled with negative market performance, which sent assets under management for that division down by £78 billion to £464 billion.
The result? Group adjusted operating profits missed analysts’ consensus as fee-based revenue earned on assets under management and administration fell by a worse-than-anticipated 8 per cent. The worst news? A target to cut the key cost/income ratio to 70 per cent by the end of next year has been pushed back. Until when? Who knows.
Based upon the earnings potential, the shares look pricey at almost 20 times forward earnings.
