You can give as many reasons as you like why it was an awful first quarter for Aberdeen Asset Management, but the fact is that it was an awful first quarter, the 15th in a row of falling assets under management. It will not get any better, because Aberdeen is signalling a further £3.4 billion reduction baked into the second three months.
The business lost is mainly low margin and includes the loss of two big mandates. The company also decided to withdraw from part of the US fixed-income business to focus on areas that showed greater potential for growth, which meant the loss of another £2.2 billion of assets.
None of this is too damaging in itself. Aberdeen had been doing quite well