As coincidence would have it, Aberdeen Asset Management’s halfway figures came on the same day that Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, warned that emerging economies could remain weak because their problems may be structural rather than fleeting. This would be bad news for the global economy and it would be a clear “sell” signal for Aberdeen.
The fund manager has been lessening its dependence on emerging markets by a handful of bolt-on acquisitions, but such assets still account for a quarter of the total. There have been signs of recovery: Aberdeen actually achieved a positive net inflow in the second quarter in emerging market equities, even if it was only £66 million, against a £900 million outflow in the first.
Aberdeen