By Sinead Cruise
LONDON (Reuters) -British fund managers Schroders and Abrdn named new chief executives on Tuesday, handing two insiders the task of rebooting performance at their respective firms against a backdrop of skittish investor sentiment and uneasy global markets.
Schroders appointed Richard Oldfield to succeed Peter Harrison in November, while Abrdn separately announced interim boss Jason Windsor would become its new permanent chief executive officer.
Both executives take over at a testing time for the wider asset management industry, with active money managers struggling to contend with competition from cheaper index-tracking products and inflationary pressure on costs.
The promotions were described as unanimous choices by the asset managers’ chairpersons.
Schroders’ former CEO Harrison announced his plan to retire in April after eight years in the top role, prompting Britain’s largest standalone fund manager to hunt for a successor.
Oldfield, 53, a seasoned finance veteran, joined Schroders last October as its finance chief from PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he spent three decades in senior roles.
Underwhelming half-year earnings from Schroders in August underscored the challenge, after the company missed profit forecasts and flagged pressure on its margins, sending its shares sharply lower.
BREAK-UP
Abrdn’s Windsor took on the role of interim CEO in May, after predecessor Stephen Bird abruptly stepped down.
The company has come under particular strain in recent years, reporting more than 10 billion pounds ($13.09 billion) of outflows over each of the last two years, although it has provided encouragement to investors this year by beating performance forecasts and starting to axe costs.
Analysts have previously said that a change in leadership at Abrdn could re-ignite calls for a break-up of the company – which spans traditional fund management through to retail investing platform interactive investor.
Windsor has a background in dealmaking himself, having spent 15 years at investment bank Morgan Stanley, although he told reporters in August that strategic repositioning of the group was not a high priority.
“[Windsor] has made a huge impression both internally and externally since he joined Abrdn, particularly as someone whose actions evidence he cares deeply about our clients and customers and our people,” Abrdn Chairman Flint said in a statement.
Ian Jenkins will continue in the role of Abrdn’s interim group chief financial officer and a search process for a permanent appointment to this role will now begin, the company said.
($1 = 0.7641 pounds)
(Additional reporting by Iain Withers, Yamini Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Amanda Cooper)
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