Aberdeen Group chief hails ‘good progress’ with Scottish fund firm’s turnaround

Chief executive Jason Windsor told investors that there was “clear growth potential” across all three of the Edinburgh-headquartered group’s businesses.

The results for the first six months of 2025 showed that group adjusted operating profit was “resilient” at £125 million, down slightly on the £128m reported a year earlier. The interim dividend was maintained at 7.3p.

The group, which ditched its derided Abrdn brand name earlier this year, said its “transformation programme” had achieved £137m of savings by the end of the first half, and was on-track to deliver on a target of at least £150m of annualised cost savings by the end of 2025, the majority of which will benefit the Investments business.

At Interactive Investor, which was bought by Aberdeen for £1.5 billion in late 2021, there were record net inflows and a 25 per cent increase in profit in the first half.

Windsor said: “In the first six months of 2025 we have made good progress against our strategic ambition to become the UK’s leading wealth and investments group. Our financial performance reflects our transition to achieving our growth and efficiency targets.

“Interactive Investor continues to go from strength to strength, delivering sustained growth in customers and profit with record net inflows. Our decision to reprice in Adviser had the expected impact on profitability. With [second quarter] net flows at their best level for over two years and much improved service and sales performance, the foundations are in place to return Adviser to growth.

"In Investments we have made further progress in improving efficiency, which has kept profits stable as we reposition the business towards our strengths in credit, specialist equities and real assets.

“Looking ahead, there is clear growth potential across all three of our businesses and we remain focused on delivering against our 2026 targets.”

Analysts at Panmure Liberum noted: “This may be a ‘year of transition’ but it is always useful if that transition can be seen to be moving the right way and it is.”