When the UK fund manager Aberdeen removed the vowels from its name four years ago, it prompted a wave of whimsical mickey-taking and caused its boss to accuse those mocking Abrdn of “corporate bullying”. Now, its new boss has performed a U-turn and returned to the company’s original name – but without capital letters.
Alongside the Edinburgh-based company’s annual results, chief executive Jason Windsor, the former finance chief who was promoted to the top job in September, announced the “pragmatic decision” to bring back its vowels – and remove any “distractions”.
“This is a group to be proud of, with a promising future,” he said. “We will deliver by looking forward with confidence and removing distractions. To that end, we are changing our name to aberdeen group plc. This is a pragmatic decision marking a new phase for the organisation, as we focus on delivering for our customers, people and shareholders.”
Standard Life Aberdeen adopted the Abrdn name in 2021, following the sale of the Standard life brand. At the time, the company, which dates back to 1825, said that the vowel-banishing change reflected a “modern, agile, digitally enabled brand”.
The branding decision drew immediate derision. One brand expert called it “ill thought-out” and said it could be pronounced “a burden”. Critics said the dropping of vowels – a strategy employed by TikTok stars and YouTubers such as the Strictly Come Dancing star Hrvy – made for spelling and pronunciation problems.
Last year, the company hit out at what it called “corporate bullying” that would not be acceptable if the business was a person. The chief investment officer, Peter Branner, pointed a finger at the media, which he said continued to make “childish jokes” about the name change.
The fund manager said on Tuesday that it would not make any changes to its subsidiary legal entity names or the names of its underlying funds, and its London Stock Exchange ticker would remain ABDN. It will start to use “aberdeen” as the principal brand name for its investments and adviser businesses.
Windsor set out a strategy to turn the firm into a leading wealth and investments group, with new 2026 targets. Adjusted revenues fell by 6% to £1.3bn last year, while operating profit rose by 2% to £255m.
Its adviser arm, the second biggest in the UK that serves more than half of the country’s independent financial advisers, posted a 7% rise in operating profit to £126m, while assets under management edged 2% higher to £75.2bn.
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However, it flagged “disappointing” flows, as increased withdrawals led to outflows of £3.9bn, up from a figure of £2.1bn in 2023.
Shares in the group rose nearly 10% on Tuesday morning.
