Edinburgh-based investment giant Aberdeen Group published first-half results on Wednesday, showing assets under management and administration (AUMA) of £517.6 billion, up from £511.4 billion at the same stage last year and £500.1 billion in the first quarter of 2025.
Net outflows in the first half were £900 million.
“Strong performance by interactive investor and continued cost discipline enabled us to maintain group adjusted operating profit in the half broadly in line with last year at £125m (H1 2024: £128m) – notwithstanding the impact of the previously announced Adviser repricing,” said Aberdeen.
First-half IFRS profit before tax increased 45% to £271 million “driven by the increase in the value of our 10.4% stake in Phoenix, and lower restructuring spend.”
Aberdeen added: “Group net inflows excluding liquidity were £0.5bn (H1 2024: £1.6bn outflow), driven by strong inflows in interactive investor, and lower outflows in Adviser, with much improved momentum.
“Overall, Investments had net outflows; with inflows in Institutional & Retail Wealth more than offset by outflows in Insurance Partners.”
In its outlook, Aberdeen said: “We are confident in the outlook for the business, underpinned by the FY 2026 Group targets of adjusted operating profit above £300m, and net capital generation of c.£300m set out at our Full year results …
“In Investments we have clear plans to grow in our focus areas in I&RW, and we expect the business mix with Phoenix to evolve over time, in line with their asset management strategy.”
Aberdeen Group CEO Jason 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 & 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 Q2 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.
REACTION:
Michael Born, Analyst at Morningstar: “The Institutional and Retail Wealth (I&RW) business continues to show encouraging momentum. Although the business reported a net outflow of £4.1 billion in H1 2025, this was largely driven by a previously announced mandate redemption.
“Excluding this, underlying net inflows totalled £4.4 billion. While this represents a notable turnaround, much of the strength has come from lower-margin areas such as quantitative strategies, passives and fixed income. Higher-margin active equities remain under pressure, with further outflows – particularly in legacy flagship products across Asia and Emerging Markets – where performance has continued to lag.
“Active strategies remain the core heritage of Aberdeen, so whilst flows continue to trend towards passives it presents an ongoing structural challenge for the firm.
“Despite the headline outflows, AUM fell less than 1% compared to year-end levels, supported by favourable market performance. The ongoing cost-cutting programme is also bearing fruit following the return to profitability in 2024. Meanwhile, the Interactive Investor (ii) platform continues to deliver strong growth, although the Adviser division remains under pressure.
“For the I&RW business, a clear focus has been on improving investment performance. Encouragingly, 71% of AUM is now outperforming their respective benchmarks over a three-year horizon – up from 60% a year ago. However, we would highlight that relative to their peer groups, the proportion of funds in the top quartile remains below 20%, suggesting there is still work to do.
“Overall, while there are clear signs of progress on the turnaround strategy, Aberdeen still faces a number of structural and performance-related headwinds, and achieving its ambitious 2026 targets will require continued improvement.”