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Former Aviva government Jason Windsor is in pole place to turn out to be the following chief government of Abrdn following the departure of Stephen Fowl, whose tenure was marked by a problematic rebrand and expulsion from the FTSE 100.
Two sources near the method instructed the Monetary Occasions that Windsor, who joined Abrdn in October as chief monetary officer, was the favoured candidate.
He could possibly be formally elevated to the highest position as quickly as Tuesday when the corporate studies half-year outcomes.
Windsor was moved into the chief government position on an interim foundation in Could when Abrdn introduced that Fowl would depart the enterprise following “the numerous strategic repositioning of the corporate”.
Abrdn additionally stated on the time that it could conduct a proper search course of, noting that it could “embody consideration of exterior candidates”.
Abrdn instructed the Monetary Occasions: “No resolution has been made on the appointment of a brand new CEO. When a call is taken by the board, we are going to replace the market in keeping with regulatory necessities.”
The subsequent chief government will tackle the position after a turbulent 4 years for the asset supervisor, wherein it has twice been ejected from the FTSE 100 and suffered from a a lot ridiculed rebranding, when its Normal Life Aberdeen model was ditched for Abrdn.
However the broader fund administration trade within the UK has been below strain, following a prolonged interval of outflows from fairness funds run by managers and ongoing competitors from cheaper index trackers.
Earlier than becoming a member of Abrdn, Windsor labored at FTSE-listed housebuilder Persimmon as chief monetary officer for simply over a yr, having beforehand held the identical position at insurance coverage firm Aviva, the place he labored for 15 years.
He additionally spent 15 years at Morgan Stanley, throughout which era he was an adviser to monetary firms on mergers and acquisitions, technique and fundraising.
Fowl had tried to diversify Abrdn by increasing its wealth administration enterprise and by promoting extra investments on to shoppers.
He oversaw Abrdn’s acquisition of Interactive Investor, the UK’s second-largest client funding web site by property, for £1.5bn in 2021.
He restructured underperforming elements of the enterprise by merging or closing greater than 250 of the corporate’s funding funds and offloading peripheral companies and joint ventures. Earlier this yr, Fowl reduce about 500 jobs, amounting to 10 per cent of the workforce, to save lots of on prices.
He was approached by the FT for remark relating to his departure.
Nevertheless, analysts have stated that Abrdn must go additional.
Rae Maile, analyst at Panmure Liberum, stated after Fowl’s departure that the enterprise “should ship a a lot decrease price base.”
He added: “One other new CEO, which we presume shall be a coronation of the CEO-elect, may have yet one more likelihood to reset the technique and to stipulate how prices shall be diminished.”
