Abrdn CEO Stephen Bird has said that breaking up the Edinburgh investment giant — a move that some analysts have called for — would be a “lazy answer” to the group’s situation.

Bird told Bloomberg in an interview that Abrdn is “very undervalued” by the stock market and that his key challenge is to get the group’s investment business “back to positive flows.”

Abrdn reported its 2023 results last month, saying its work to achieve at least £150 million of annualised cost savings was now underway and that its assets under management and administration (AUMA) slipped 1% to £494.9 billion.

Abrdn said 2023 net outflows in its investments and adviser businesses were partly offset by positive market movements and continued net inflows at its Interactive Investor (ii) unit. Net outflows for the year were £13.9 billion, up from £10.3 billion in 2022.

In January, Abrdn confirmed it would axe 500 jobs as part of a “new transformation programme targeting an annualised cost reduction of at least £150m by the end of 2025.”

Bird was asked by Bloomberg how much longer he required to “turn the ship around.”

He replied: “We are in the process of transforming the business, still, to being (a) more efficient investor that delivers good outcomes for clients …

“We are three and a half years in … the board told me it would take five … I was hoping it would take less …”

On any suggestion he should break up the group, Bird said: “I think a break up is a really lazy answer …

“The day after a break up you still have all these colleagues … you still have 500 billion dollars invested …

“We don’t consider a break up to be a sensible thing to do at all …

“We think the business is very undervalued …”

Bird was asked about other scenarios for Abrdn if a break up is not on the cards.

He replied: “… the key … the isolated challenge is getting our investments business back to positive flows …”

Asked if Abrdn has the “proper management” in place to see through his plans, Bird said: “We absolutely do … our major shareholders, who we are very close to, understand the transformation programme …

“We have renewed the entire top team …

“These types of transformations … they do take time …

“We believe the hard work of building a sustainable business is better than the lazy answer.”