Changing its name won’t improve the investment performance at Aberdeen Asian Smaller Companies Investment Trust, but rejigging the fund management team and the portfolio might.
As of yesterday, the £486 million investment trust is known as Aberdeen Standard Asia Focus, a far simpler moniker. More importantly, the day-to-day investment decisions will be in the hands of Hugh Young, the Singapore-based fund manager who almost single-handedly built the reputation of his employer, Standard Life Aberdeen, as an expert in the emerging markets.
In fairness, Mr Young has been involved in the investment process at the trust since its launch 23 years ago but as a part of a team effort, and it is illustrative of the difficulties it has been facing that he has rolled up